Lost Blue-Eyed Child
by Celtic Water Spirit
Summary: Judai was on his way home after helping out an old friend when Hane Kuriboh finds a lost girl that can see spirits. Judai jumps through hoops to find out where the girl came from. (Set several years after GX. Includes an OC, fianceshipping, and soulshipping.)
1. Maybe She's Mute

****Yu-gi-oh! GX  
>Lost <strong>Blue-Eyed Child<strong>****

**Rated**: K+  
><strong>Genre<strong>: Mystery/Family  
><strong>Summary<strong>: Judai was on his way home after helping out an old friend when Hane Kuriboh finds a lost girl that can see spirits. Judai jumps through hoops to find out where the girl came from. (Set several years after GX. Includes an OC, fianceshipping, and soulshipping.)

_(Warnings: Set several years after GX. Includes an OC, already established fianceshipping and soulshipping _aka yearnshipping_ (this is not a shipping/romance fic so it's not about them), as well as Japanese names, but few Japanese phrases or titles. Yubel will be referred to with female pronouns. This is a clean story. If any of these things bother you, this is your fair warning, and you should turn back now.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Maybe She's Mute<strong>

Judai Yuki, the legendary slacker to come out of Duel Academy had become quite the adult. After high school, he went on to travel the world and have many adventures. He met all kinds of people, good and bad, seen many things, good and bad, and even traveled through time a little. His missions for a while included helping people with their spirits, dealing with spirit problems, and protecting the world. However, besides among the friends he had made around the world, he was most known as the E-Hero Duelist, one of the top professional duelists in Domino City.

That wasn't all he did with his life. He had learned a lot about his past with Yubel's help, who was still fused with his soul, which granted him more powers than what just his Haou side did. He had also joined forces with Yugi Mouto again. Finally, when there were more spiritual duelists around the world to help keep watch against threats, Judai was able to return to Domino more often, where he began the next stage of his life.

Recently, he actually settled down, somewhat, and got married to Asuka Tenjoin, now known as Asuka Tenjoin-Yuki. He had known her for a long time as a friend. After high school, he hadn't seen her for a few years while he traveled and she studied abroad. When he did see her again, he was blown away by the woman she had become. If hadn't been for Yubel, he probably would have thought himself undeserving of such a remarkable woman, but even Yubel, who was hard to please, had deemed her the most worthy woman to become his 'Queen' and wanted Judai to peruse her. Judai still rolled his eyes at those terms, as they were from another lifetime, but appreciated that Yubel was so supportive. He didn't know what he'd do without her.

For the past couple weeks, Judai had been up north working on a case with his old friend and spirit brother, Johan Andersen. Johan was having a problem catching a new spirit trapper and called Judai up for help. Together they were able to track down the culprit and save the day before any spirits got seriously hurt. Johan promised to help on the next mission Judai needed help with.

Judai had just left the airport and looked up at the skies above Domino City. "Good to be home, right Yubel?" he asked as he stretched and adjusted his travel bag on his shoulder.

Yubel appeared beside him. _"Indeed, as soon as we get home, I want you to rest, and then if your wife is fertile you should-"_

"Hey-hey, Yubel!" Judai groaned. "You know we're not ready for kids yet!"

Yubel rolled her eyes. _"If you were King you would have at least two heirs by now," _she tried.

"At least I know _you're_ ready for our family to grow," Judai sighed as he began walking. He didn't know where Yubel got the idea about already having two children in his other lifetime when that lifetime was too short to have had kids in the first place. "You know this reminds me a lot of the conversation I had with Johan the other day…" Not to his surprise, Johan's family was growing quickly since Johan always wanted a big family. It was probably due to the fact that the only family he really had were the spirits in his deck, which he didn't get to meet until he was about sixteen, and before that he really just had bugs that didn't talk back. Long story short, Johan and his wife had just had their third child and they planned to have more. Judai had no idea how Johan was able to do it. Though it did make sense, Johan had very supportive spirits on his side to back him up and keep him calm and focused no matter what.

"Judai Yuki!" someone called out and he looked over to see someone he didn't know. It was a kid of about twelve-years-old. "Can I get your autograph? I'm one of your biggest fans!"

"Whoa, sure you can!" Judai grinned as he took the kid's notebook and pen. "What's your name?"

"Hehe, it's Yuki!" the kid laughed.

"Alright!" Judai smiled as he began writing. This happened sometimes. Every once in a while, someone would stop him to say hello or even get a picture ever since he started dueling in the local regional Pro Leagues. To him, the Pro Leagues was really just a good way to earn a paycheck to pay for his travel expenses. Not to mention he loved dueling and seeing his friends that also participated in the pros. Heh, Manjoume still hadn't beaten him yet, even though Manjoume seemed to care less and less about that as each year passed. "Alright, there you go!" Judai finished and gave back the notebook.

Yuki began to read it out loud. "To Yuki, we should get our game on sometime! Your friend, E-Hero Judai Yuki!" Yuki looked up and grinned as Judai did his signature pose. "Thanks!"

"No problem!" Judai said. "Well I gotta go, be careful!" Judai waved as he began walking through the parking lot. As much as he would've liked to stick around and chat about dueling and cards, he did have other plans and someplace to be.

"Bye!" the kid waved and then ran back to his mom who was waiting nearby.

Yubel looked at Judai smugly. "What's with that look?" Judai questioned.

"_And you're worried you wouldn't be any good with kids," _Yubel began mockingly_. "Please, you basically are one at heart. What are you waiting for anyway?" _

Judai groaned. Johan had said something very similar to that and Yubel knew it. Yubel had been pestering him about having kids ever since he started dating Asuka! It didn't help when Johan of all people had to also take Yubel's side on the matter, though Johan was a bit more understanding of Judai's anxiety. "Yubel, we're not ready…"

"_But you're more ready than ever, I remember, you said that you and Asuka would have to get settled into your new living arrangements and careers first, I think that time has come," _Yubel argued.

"Curse your memory," Judai chuckled. Seriously, Yubel didn't forget anything, especially anything he said. "Look, I know Asuka wants to start a family at some point, but she's no more ready than I am, there's still the mental and emotional readiness now that the financial part is ready."

"_Very well," _Yubel said calmly, letting the subject go for now. _"Are you taking a cab home?" _Yubel asked.

"Yep," Judai nodded. "Or I could walk, but I'd like to get home on time for once," he chuckled. Yubel smiled at the humor just before she disappeared. Just then his cell phone vibrated in his jacket pocket. He looked at it right away. It was a text message.

'From Asuka: Are you on your way home?'

'About to get a cab, see you soon.' Judai replied.

Once he was in a cab, he got another text message.

'From Asuka: How was the flight?'

'Long, but I slept through most of it lol.' Judai replied.

'From Asuka: I believe that.'

'Almost home :D' Judai replied.

He put his phone back in his pocket as the cab turned onto Rolling Green Boulevard and he could see his apartment building through the trees that lined the streets. He told the cab driver that he could just stop at the parking lot entrance and when the driver did, Judai thanked him and paid him before jumping out with his bag. "Ah! Good to be home!" Judai cheered as he looked up at the set of four story buildings. He and Asuka lived on the top floor of the second building. As he stepped up to his building, he was sure his wife was checking the window for him.

"Kuri, kuri!" the duel spirit of Hane Kuriboh suddenly popped out and flapped his wings frantically.

Judai stopped and looked at the floating brown ball of fur. "What is it, buddy? Something wrong?"

Hane Kuriboh flew off and motioned with its little green claw to follow. At this moment Yubel appeared as well. _"It is not danger, something else," _she told him.

"That's weird," Judai said and looked back up at his apartment building. Guess home will have to wait. He pulled out his phone again and fired off a quick text to Asuka.

'Kuriboh is worried, be back soon.' Judai sent.

"Okay, let's go, Hane Kuriboh!" Judai called as he ran to catch up with the little spirit.

Hane Kuriboh led Judai through the complex, forcing him to jump a fence that separated the complex from the local park. Then he was taken probably half a mile at least before the spirit disappeared around a corner and through some trees and brush. Judai almost thought he had lost the spirit until he heard its familiar voice.

"Hane Kuriboh? Kuriboh? Where'd ya go, pal?" Judai called as he looked around through the trees and brush, slowly pushing through and watching his footing. Then he heard something odd, it sounded like a little girl laughing.

Finally, he saw Hane Kuriboh bouncing in the air above a small child. The little girl could not have been more than four or five-years-old and already had long brown hair along with shockingly blue eyes against her pale skin. She wore a white dress with blue pants of some sort underneath, a light blue jacket, and brown sandals.

Judai stopped for a moment to analyze the situation. This appeared to be what Hane Kuriboh was so worked up about and it was obvious that the little girl could see Hane Kuriboh. In fact, she was quite happy to see the little spirit. Guess it was time to figure out what this was about.

Judai took a breath and stepped into the clearing. Neither the spirit nor the girl paid him any mind. "What are you doing over here, Hane Kuriboh?" he asked and the little girl jumped and looked at him with wide, scared eyes. He stopped walking and looked at them both. "Hi there," he smiled gently, but the little girl shrank away instead. Judai looked at the spirit who just looked worried. "My name's Judai, what's yours?" he tried, but was ignored.

He looked around, but it was just green foliage. There wasn't another person in sight. He couldn't even hear the voices of other people in the park on the other side of the trees. Something wasn't right, he knew that for sure. However, he didn't sense any kind of danger and neither did Yubel. In fact, it was kind of peaceful in the little clearing.

Then a serious problem struck him. "Why are you alone?" he addressed the child. However, she didn't answer and looked away, more interested in plucking the grass beside her. "Where are your parents? Did they tell you to stay here?" Judai tried, but again, she didn't answer.

Judai scratched his head, unsure what he was supposed to do or think. Even during all his traveling, he didn't have much experience with younger children. Johan's kids were one thing, given that those kids were always with an adult, and that they're even younger. Judai wished Asuka was here, she had more experience with children due to her teaching career and would be knowledgeable about what to do in this situation.

It was obvious that this child was alone, and that she was much too young to ever consider leaving alone. He was pretty sure that this girl hadn't even started school yet. Furthermore, he couldn't just leave her here either. Not only would that be irresponsible of him, but his conscious wouldn't allow it. If he had too, he would wait there until her guardian returned for her.

The wait might be a while, so he might as well make himself comfortable. He nodded to himself with that thought and sat down in the grass. After he relaxed his shoulders, Hane Kuriboh glided back over to him and rested on one of his shoulders. Judai smiled at the spirit who made a delighted sound. Then he looked back toward the little girl who had been staring at him in wonder. Though as soon as she realized his eyes were on her, she looked away again.

"Are you lost?" Judai asked. She only looked at him for a second and didn't answer. "It's okay to be shy, you don't have to talk to me, stranger-danger, right? Believe me or not, but I am here to help people, and Hane Kuriboh here tells me that you need my help."

"_Perhaps she's mute or unable to hear," _Yubel's voice said from within, but she did not appear. Due to her demonic appearance, she is careful to not startle people, especially children that are able to see spirits.

"If you don't want to talk, you can just nod and stuff, do you understand?" Judai tried.

The little girl looked at him for a second and her vibrant blue eyes seemed able to look right through him, or more like into his soul. That thought made him a little uncomfortable. If the girl saw Yubel, or worse, the darkest part of the Haou inside him, she may know how dangerous he could actually be if he chose to to be.

However, she smiled at him. He blinked at her and decided to try to talk to her again. "Are you lost?" he asked, and finally, she nodded. "Okay, how about we try to find your parents?" he said as he stood up. With a wide smile, she hopped up and grabbed two of his fingers. He was surprised by this, but allowed it. The contact would ensure that he doesn't lose sight of her too.

"Kuri…" Hane Kuriboh hovered by her head and she reached for him with a smile. Kuriboh then began to lead the way out of the clearing. It took a little longer for Judai to get out of the brush than it did to get in, but he was making sure the child didn't get snagged on a twig or low hanging branch. He didn't want to have to explain where a bruise or scrape came from to her parents when he found them.

"Your parents must be worried," Judai said as he looked around the park while the child continued to hold onto his fingers. There were people walking about, some were sitting in the grass, and if he looked in the distance, he could see a playground. "Do you know where your parents would be?" he addressed the blue-eyed girl.

She looked up at him and shook her head.

Judai adjusted the bag that was still on his shoulder using his free hand and looked towards the playground again. "Might as well start over there," he said and pointed towards the area and began walking with the girl. The journey was a little slow, since he could only walk as fast as the girl's small legs could take her. He probably wouldn't have noticed the walking speed if he wasn't in a hurry to find her parents.

There were children playing on the playground as mothers, fathers, or other caretakers watched or assisted. Judai looked down at the girl and watched where she was looking. She had looked around and then looked up at him and shook her head again.

"Not here, huh?" he sighed and looked around. "Do you know how long you were in there?" he asked, but she just shook her head again.

"_Perhaps she doesn't even have parents," _Yubel suggested.

"Were you with either of your parents when you got lost?" Judai asked, but the girl didn't answer at all. "Guess it's time to ask around…" Judai looked around the play area. If someone lost their child, they might have already asked the other parents if they had seen her.

First, Judai took out his cell phone to check the time. He still had time before he'd have to update his wife on when he was going to be home again. Putting his phone back in his jacket pocket, he saw a couple women with strollers sitting on a bench overlooking the play area.

"Excuse me," he began to get their attention. "Has there been anyone asking about a lost child?"

The women looked at each other before one answered. "No, did you lose your child?" she asked.

"Uh, no… I'm looking for someone who lost-"

"If you lost one of your kids, you should ask security and file a report right away," the other woman said.

"No-no, you don't understand, there's a missing child, but she isn't mine," Judai tried.

"But this one is yours, right? What it's like to be a single dad?" one of the women asked.

Judai was stunned with silence for a moment. "Wh-what are you… uh, never mind, thanks for your help anyway…" he said as he began to usher the small child away as quickly as he could. It was obvious that those women didn't know what he wanted to find out. Once he was out of earshot of the two women, he sighed in relief. "Well that was weird and awkward, not even Junko and Momoe are that random, sheesh."

Yubel and Hane Kuriboh shared a knowing look at Judai's ignorance before they both faded away again. Meanwhile, Judai looked down at the child that still held onto him. He supposed they looked a little alike, but he didn't see enough resemblance for those women to assume she was his daughter. Maybe it wouldn't have been as weird if they had asked if she was his sister, though he was starting to get a little old for that, despite not noticeably aging much since he was about nineteen. Still, the only similarity he shared with the girl was brown hair, and it wasn't even the same shade of brown. No matter, that wasn't important at the moment, so he continued to scan the faces of each person that passed by.

"Tell me if you see someone you know, okay?" he instructed the girl, and she nodded. He nodded back and they began walking away from the play area. It was very possible that this girl's caretakers already left and submitted a report. He had hoped she wasn't alone for more than a few minutes. It must have been terrifying if she was alone any longer than that. Judai supposed now he should try to find the nearest security guard or police officer.

Suddenly the girl stopped and Judai wondered if she saw someone she recognized. Instead, she was pointing at a poster advertisement. It had a large dramatic picture of the King of Games, Yugi Mouto, and one of the most famous duelists in Domino City, Jonouchi Katsuya. It had been years since Judai saw a poster with both of them, so he read it.

"Upcoming friendly nostalgia duel between Yugi and Jonouchi at the Kaiba Dome, reserve tickets today at…" Judai stopped. This certainly sounded intriguing and definitely something he would be interested in. He took a picture of the poster with his cell phone. "Hope I can get tickets to that, wonder if I could call Yugi and ask if he has any tickets to give away…" Judai wondered. It had been a while since he had last seen Yugi, and it was a little hard to figure out when Yugi last saw him, considering the time paradox that only gave him a headache to think about.

"_You actually spoke to him recently, it was during your meeting with Pegasus only a year ago during the Penguin Solider spirit situation," _Yubel reminded.

"Oh yeah…" Judai thought back. Who knew such a weak card could have such an angry spirit? He was able to take care of it though. Turned out the card was just mad, because some young duelists were making fun of it. "Anyway, I think I see a security guard," he said as he approached the woman in uniform. "Excuse me," Judai began to get their attention.

She looked at him and nodded in greeting. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"It seems this kid here can't find her parents, what should we do?" Judai asked.

The security guard looked at the girl and knelt down to speak to her. "Is that true? Did you lose your parents?"

Judai was a little offended that the security guard asked the girl for confirmation, though he did understand why, sort of. However, why would he lie about that? If he was a kidnapper, he certainly wouldn't be _looking _for where the girl belongs and certainly wouldn't have asked an authority.

Unfortunately, the girl shrank away from the woman in uniform and hid behind Judai's legs. Hane Kuriboh popped out again to try to console the child. The woman stood up again to address Judai with a serious expression. "I can escort you both to the police station to find out if there have been any missing child reports in the area today, as well as follow other procedures, can I get your name please?" she said a bit coldly.

"I'm Judai Yuki," he said with a straight face. She stared at him for a few seconds, as if trying to place the name. "I'm a duelist, so you've probably heard of me before," he told her.

She nodded. "Can I see your ID please?"

Judai sighed. Did this woman seriously not believe him? "Sure, I guess," he said as he knelt down to set his bag on the ground. The girl didn't want to let go of his fingers, but she did eventually and grabbed the edge of his jacket instead. He opened up the front pocket of his bag where he retrieved three forms of ID. First was his driver's license, the second was his recently used passport, and the last was his Kaiba Corp. issued duelist registration ID which he got when he graduated Duel Academy and then updated when he entered the local Pro Leagues. "This good, or do you want to see my dueling deck too?" he asked.

"This is sufficient, please come with me," she said and he quickly put his things away and slung his bag over his shoulder again. As soon as his hand was free again, the blue-eyed girl took his fingers again. She sure had a grip on him too. He wondered if she was going to be willing to let go again. Luckily, she was only holding his left hand hostage, so he could still do everything he needed with his right at the moment.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

What happens in this story is not accurate of a real life situation. I did a lot of research about this topic. However, there was little to be found about what to do if you find someone's child who appears to be lost. Nearly all I could find had to more with what to do if you lose your child. Please forgive any errors in the handling and procedures. Though weird things can happen in fiction, this shouldn't get too weird. This is supposed to be a short story, more of an exercise, so we'll see how it turns out.

I'm not much of a shipper, but sometimes I like to muse about how some ships might work, so if any included ships don't seem very "shippy?", that's why.

Service Announcement type-thing: If you find a lost child, do not touch them in any way. They may touch you. If you are male, you have to be extra careful about this. Talk to the child and find out if they are actually lost or if they were told to wait, even if they cried as a result of being left. If lost, you can wait around with them for at least a few minutes to see if their guardian returns promptly, but then get help. They suggest first finding a mother with her own children to help you so you can call proper authorities or to find an authority if in a public setting such as a mall with cops nearby. There is a risk that the lost/abandon child's guardian may appear and start screaming at you, but you are urged to remain calm and keep a safe distance to avoid physical conflict. In this case, it's best to remember at least the worst didn't happen and the child is safe. Even if the guardian thought you were a kidnapper, they will likely not leave their child unattended in the same way again, so a lesson has been learned.

Notifications of errors/typos should be through PM instead of review so review doesn't become irrelevant after correction is made. Thank you. (This note is on all my newer stories.)


	2. No, She's Not My Daughter

**Yu-gi-oh! GX  
>Lost Blue-Eyed Child<strong>

**Chapter 2: No, She's Not My Daughter**

After a short and lackluster chain of events, Judai found himself having to wait in the nearby Police Station. The little girl he found alone and lost in the trees by the park near his apartment was now sitting in the chair next to him. They were simply waiting until someone told them what to do next. Hopefully her parents or guardians would be on their way soon.

She still had not spoken a word to anyone. Hadn't even told anybody her name or even her age on her fingers. It was possible she was scared, shy, or mute. They weren't sure. A child counselor tried to talk to her for several minutes, and he even just sat with her silently for a bit, while Judai was still in eyeshot at a desk filling out some paperwork about what happened and how he found her. After years of traveling the world, he knew to keep the parts about his spirit partners out of the story when it came to the law enforcement. For some reason, they seemed to judge him harsher when he was completely truthful. Even Yubel thought it was better to go about it this way, especially in Domino City where problems with dueling spirits seemed to be unusually high and the law enforcement were completely incompetent.

"What's going to happen if you can't find her parents?" Judai asked as he finished up the papers.

"Hopefully they can find somebody that knows her that they can temporarily release custody to," the counselor told him. "In the worst case scenario, child services will put her in a foster home until further notice."

Judai nodded as he thought for a moment. "I know she looks Japanese, but is possible she speaks another language?" Judai suggested. "I got her to nod when I asked if she was lost though, but now I'm not so sure if she understood much?"

The counselor nodded and put his hand to his chin as he thought. "There's a lot of languages… and I will admit even my English is lacking these days."

"I've traveled the world, so I can piece together some questions for her," Judai said as he scratched the side of his face with one finger. "And my wife studied abroad in America so her English is absolutely flawless. Her German and Dutch are pretty good too."

"Would you mind if she came here, if she's available?"

"It'll take some explaining," Judai scratched his head. "But sure, I'll just explain when she gets here," he said as he pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial.

It rang three times on the other side before she picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," Judai started.

"Judai, I got your text, did something happen? Are you alright?" she asked hurriedly.

"Whoa, slow down," he chuckled. True, sometimes something more serious did happen, so she had a right to be worried after he ran off after Hane Kuriboh right before getting home. "I'm at the Police Station right now, could you come down here?"

"What!?" she exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"It's not like that! I just need your help with something, I can explain in more detail when you get here," he told her. "And can you bring me a snack? I'm hungry."

"Sheesh… fine, I'll be right there and bring you a snack," she said. "See you soon."

"Thanks! See ya!" Judai said before he hung up. He considered himself lucky that she was so understanding. She didn't question him or press for details. Considering his obligations, it was sometimes better to act first and ask questions later. She knew he'd explain everything when the important part was out of the way.

Judai informed the counselor and the police officer that his wife would arrive shortly to help. Then he sat down and let his head fall back for a few seconds. He was kind of tired too.

"What did your wife travel abroad for?" the counselor asked as the blue-eyed girl flipped through a magazine to look at the pictures.

"Huh?" Judai didn't realize the man was talking to him for a second. "Oh, dueling and teaching, she went to Duel University in America and then she had to do a lot more stuff here to be able to teach at Duel Prep. She went there in middle school, apparently the teachers there are really skilled and carefully picked," Judai explained.

"I am well aware of the prestige of teaching at Duel Prep, your wife is actually more qualified than I am to work with children," the counselor chuckled in jest, even though it was kind of true. "She must be brilliantly intelligent."

"Heh, I'll say," Judai nodded. "She worked really hard too," he added.

"Her family must be really proud of her."

"You bet, she deserves where she is now, and she earned it on her own," Judai nodded again.

"I look forward to making her acquaintance," he said. "You're a duelist right? Judai Yuki, regional professional?" he asked.

Judai nodded again. "You were trying to figure out how I'm married to her, what she saw in me, that sort of thing, right?" Judai smirked. He had literally received those questions before, granted, mostly from Manjoume.

"Well, I will admit, I was a little curious," he chuckled as he scratched the back of his head and bowed apologetically.

"Ah, it's fine," Judai shrugged. "We make a good team you know. Made an unstoppable tag team our senior year at Duel Academy," he said.

"Oh so you've been together since high school?"

Judai snapped his head towards the man in surprise. "What? Oh no, we were just good friends and rivals back then, I still had a lot of growing up to do before a girl like her would've been interested in me."

The counselor was about to say something when another officer stepped in. "There have been no reports of a missing child that matches her description, we're contacting the next branch up and see if she's from one of the neighboring cities or towns," he informed.

"Thanks," Judai said just to fill the silence before it could come.

"Hopefully, if her guardians haven't realized she's missing yet, they will report it right away," he added. "Until then, we might have to make other arrangements for her."

"_She is near," _Yubel's voice echoed from within. Judai looked out the window, and sure enough, Asuka was getting out of her charcoal-colored sedan which was parked in front of the Police Station.

"That was fast," Judai commented and made his way towards the door. The little girl looked at him with wide eyes as he proceeded to open the door as if he was going to leave, but then a woman entered with dark blonde which was gathered at the base of her neck with a navy-colored clip, leaving just her bangs to frame her face. Only a streak of brown eye-shadow accented her hazel eyes. With navy-colored knee high boots, a black skirt, and a fashionable navy-colored top, she looked like a professional and intelligent woman. The only jewelry she wore was a wedding band.

"What's wrong that you needed me to come down here?" Asuka asked.

Judai closed the door behind her and placed his hand on her back as he ushered her to the area he had been waiting at. The social worker's jaw dropped when she stepped into the room. "Well, there's this little girl I need your help with," Judai started.

Asuka looked at the girl and then glared at her husband. "What did you do?"

Judai stepped back. "What?"

"Is she yours?" she questioned.

"Mine? What are you talking about?" Judai defended.

"Judai, if you have a daughter and you didn't tell me…" she didn't get to finish when Judai chuckled.

"No-no, she's not my daughter," he started. "I just found her and she was all alone for who knows how long, so we're trying to find her parents, the problem is that she won't talk so I was asked if you could come ask some questions in other languages," he explained.

Asuka sighed in relief and smiled softly. "Of course I can," she said. "Oh, and I brought you your snack," she said and handed him a small paper sack.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed and looked inside before taking out a rice ball to munch on. "You're the best!" he said with his mouth full.

The counselor jumped to his feet. "You must be Yuki-san, I am Doctor Kouga, a psychologist that works with the police regularly," he introduced himself.

She bowed her head. "My students usually call me Tenjoin-sensei," she mused aloud.

"Oh, I apologize!"

Asuka smiled and stepped passed him, "Nothing to worry about, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said and sat down in the chair next to the little girl.

Doctor Kouga stepped over by the door to stand close enough to Judai to whisper. "Wow," he said in amazement. "First everything you told me about her, and now that I see her too, I have to know… you know… how?"

Judai laughed and looked proud of himself. "How in the world she agreed to marry a guy like me?" he guessed with a grin, leaving the other man to just nod shyly, not wanting to say it aloud, however, Judai seemed to have no problem talking about it. "Good question, wish I had an answer for you," he shrugged.

Yubel scoffed at the man and began to list reasons why it was Asuka who was good enough for Judai, not the other way around. Yubel would accept nothing less than the best for her beloved soul partner. Asuka was one of few people that passed Yubel's strict judgment. Judai wasn't even sure what all that really entailed.

"You seem like you never really questioned it yourself."

"Nope, she's one of my best friends and we're a great team, it just makes sense to me, to us, but it's just hard to explain it to others," Judai said and looked at her.

Doctor Kouga looked too. "You're very lucky to have that," he said.

"Yeah," Judai nodded.

They listened to Asuka try another sentence. Judai recognized it as German. She was simply asking for her name. Just as he feared, the girl looked even more confused and then looked at Judai with a look that was clearly asking for help. Sho Marufuji often had a similar look during freshman year.

"Guess she's not German," Judai shrugged.

"Why try German in the first place?" Doctor Kouga asked.

Judai just shrugged at first. "We once hosted a German exchange student to attend Duel Prep for three months." Judai explained. "Granted they were here to learn more Japanese, so by the end we heard very little German." Judai left out how he was barely present during those months because he was busy running around the world after members of a crooked organization in the dueling world. That was a tough one.

"You hosted an exchange student?"

"Yeah, it was a part of some Duel Prep program that Asuka wanted to try since she was recommended to host," Judai explained. "That was almost a year ago now, so I hardly remember any of the German I learned. Asuka kept up on it better than I did."

"Ah, I see," he nodded and they listened to some sentences spoke in English and then Dutch.

Finally, Asuka stood up and faced the men. "I'm sorry I couldn't help, I think she understands Japanese best, but she either won't or can't speak," she said. "Did something happen that might have traumatized her?" she asked.

"No idea," Judai answered. "If we can't find her parents soon, she'll have to go to a foster home for awhile."

"I see," Asuka said as she thought for a minute. "And there haven't been any reports of a missing child? No one's looking for her?"

"I hope they are and that they report it soon," Judai said. "I planned to wait here until they figure out what to do next."

"Sounds like that's going to be a while," Asuka observed. "And you just got back from Scandinavia, you haven't even gone home yet," she said.

Judai shrugged. "I'd like to go home, but I can't just turn my back on someone in need of my help…"

Asuka sighed heavily before she smiled at him. "I know, that's just the way you are." She stood up, pecked his cheek with a light kiss, and headed for the door leading out the room and into the office area.

"Where are you going?" Judai asked.

"I have an idea, so I'm going to talk with someone in charge here." She left before Judai could ask anything else.

"Wait, what?" Doctor Kouga asked.

Judai simply shrugged and took a seat again. "I dunno, she'll tell us when she gets back." Judai looked at the child sitting next to him. She was staring at him. "What do you think?" Judai asked her, but she looked down. "You know, I think you're being a good girl, kids aren't supposed to talk to strangers," Judai commented and picked up another magazine and gave it to her to look at.

"But even children are taught that they should speak to authority figures like police officers, doctors, and teachers," Doctor Kouga said.

Judai looked at the girl and then at Doctor Kouga. "Maybe she wasn't, and maybe there's a reason," he said.

The former Osiris duelist wondered deeply about it. His own past back at Duel Academy had taught him there were teachers he couldn't trust. Chronos-sensei was awful that first year and a part of the second. The academy chairman, Kagemaru, caused enough problems during the first year too. Then there was Cobra and Kouji Satou during his third year. People of authority couldn't always be trusted, even if those people had reasons for their actions. Even doctors or police officers were not always upstanding as Judai witnessed during his travels. Then, there was himself. He once acted as a king, the highest authority, and yet he used his powers for less than honorable actions at one time.

"I mean, she trusted me enough to get help and now she's here where she's not going to get hurt," Judai said. "So she might have good instincts."

"Interesting," Doctor Kouga thought about it. "I supposed that is pretty lucky. Some children go missing and never turn up again, at least by finding a way here, as soon as she's reported missing, she'll be home again."

Judai nodded in response and they fell silent for a few minutes. Doctor Kouga was obligated to stay in the room so the child wasn't left unattended or alone with Judai. They were all getting bored quickly. Doctor Kouga stared out the window for a minute.

"Is that your car?" Doctor Kouga asked idly.

"The dark gray sedan?" Judai asked.

"Yeah."

"That's Asuka's, I use it sometimes though," Judai answered.

"Use a lot of the public transit?"

"Yeah, but I also have a motorcycle," Judai added.

"Nice, what color?"

"_You're making a friend,"_ Yubel chuckled.

"Red," Judai grinned. "It's kind of my color," he said as she stretched his arms above his head and then tried to cover a yawn. "Man, I am ready to hit the hay," he said before he yawned again. "Don't mind me, I'm just going to close my eyes for a bit," he said as he leaned back his head against the wall. Doctor Kouga simply gave a light grunt in response. After years of traveling and wandering the world, he could sleep anywhere and in nearly any position.

Judai listened to the environment around him. Doors were opening and closing, vehicles drove by outside, and a bicycle rang a bell as they passed. He could also hear some voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. He recognized Asuka's voice. For some reason he just remembered he was going to call Johan to let him know he got home alright, and that he didn't get swept up in another adventure on the way home. Judai supposed that kind of happened anyway, otherwise he wouldn't be taking a catnap in a police station.

Time must have escaped him, because he was roused from his light sleep over an hour later. Asuka had gently pinched is ear to wake him up. It worked every time. He didn't like his ears touched much and was pretty sensitive about it for unknown reasons. When he opened his eyes, he had to rub them first before he could see the clock on the wall. It was already getting dark out.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Long story short, she will be coming home with us tonight if no one comes forward for her," Asuka explained.

"With us? Is that allowed?" Judai asked.

"Do I need to explain the requirements of a Duel Prep professor again?" she asked and Judai simply chuckled and sweat a little. "And besides, I just spent the last hour on the phone and filling out paperwork so she could be released into my custody on a temporary basis."

"I guess she will need a place to sleep tonight. I don't think she'd want to stay here or at a foster home, that's just more strangers," Judai laughed and then noticed the girl shake her head quickly. "See, she agrees."

"I still have some paperwork to go over, more of the legal obligations and policies of foster care, but this isn't our first time hosting a stranger's child, so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," she said.

"How much longer until we're all out of here?" Judai asked and glanced over at the girl.

"I don't know, but it could be another couple hours," Asuka said. "You need to sign some papers too by the way, but after that you can head home if you're too tired to hang around."

Judai felt a tug on his sleeve. He didn't need to think about his options. "Nah, I think I'll stick around until it's time to go." He looked around the room and didn't see Doctor Kouga. "Where's the Doc?" he asked.

"He's getting us a copy of his contact information in case anything comes up," Asuka said.

"Oh good," Judai said and looked over at the girl again. "Hear that, you get to spend the night at our place, it'll be a lot of fun, I have a bunch of video games we can play!" She smiled widely in response, but still didn't speak. "I think we're good with that idea," Judai told Asuka, who laughed softly.

As Asuka walked away, she mumbled something about there being two children tonight.

Hane Kuriboh flew out of Judai's deck and chirped happily above their heads before settling on top of Judai's hair. Judai looked up at the small creature and smiled. Hane Kuriboh gently glided through the room and the girl watched the monster closely.

"What do you think, Buddy?" Judai started. There no one was around to see him talking to seemingly empty space anyway. "Feel like entertaining a guest for a night?" Hane Kuriboh landed on the girl's lap and made a happy sound while nodding and flapping its wings. "That means he's happy to have you," Judai grinned goofily.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Here's an alternate scene (but not really):

_Asuka looked at the child and then at her husband. "If I find out this child is actually yours, Judai, we'll be divorceshipping faster than you can blink…"_

Basically the girl is young enough and resembles Judai enough, that he could feasibly be her father. However, he doesn't seem like the one night stand type nor the adulterous type, so this is not that kind of story.

So now you should see why I made Asuka an important part of this story. Realistically, unless avoiding the police and social services altogether, Judai would not end up holding custody of someone's child that he just found lost and alone. Asuka, on the other hand, could with a strong background in education and working with other people's children as an elite private school teacher with hosting experience. Hope that makes sense. It might be a stretch as far as real legal matters tend to go, but as I said in my first Author's Note for this story, this shouldn't get too weird.

Wonder where on Earth her real guardians could be and what they are doing?


	3. The Extra Room

**Yu-gi-oh! GX  
>Lost Blue-Eyed Child<strong>

**Chapter 3: The Extra Room**

It was getting late by the time the three of them arrived back at the apartment. Asuka pulled the car into its usual parking space and they all got out of the car and headed up the stairs. With just a press of a remote button, the car beeped as it locked and set the car alarm. The halls and stairways were open and illuminated during part of the evenings.

"We're on the top floor," Judai told the girl as he walked behind them, while carrying his travel bag over his shoulder.

No one had showed up to claim the girl and she was falling asleep along with Judai in the waiting area at the police station. With businesses closing up and the sun going down, it was time to send the girl home with her selected temporary caretakers. Hopefully, everything would be resolved by morning. Asuka was on standby and was requested to keep her mobile phone handy at all times in case something happened during the night.

Asuka unlocked the door and they went inside a somewhat spacious apartment of mostly grey and blue. The furnishings were Western and fairly simple with a slightly modern touch. Asuka slipped off her shoes and continued through the apartment to turn on the lights. She left her bag on the dining table as she walked by it.

"I'm going to get the clean covers for the bed in the guest room, I'll only be a minute," she said as she disappeared into the hallway.

"Alright," Judai called. He had already closed the front door behind him and was slipping off his own shoes. "Go ahead and take off your shoes," he instructed the girl.

As she worked on getting her brown sandals off, Judai left his travel bag in the front area and hung up his jacket. Then he plopped himself down on the sofa in the nearby living area and heaved a large sigh as he relaxed and put up his feet on the table. He looked ready to go nowhere and perfectly content about it.

"Good to be home, and it looks like we might actually get to stay awhile this time with the way things have been trending, right Yubel?" Judai looked over expecting to see Yubel's spirit manifestation seated beside him as she usually was when they got home after traveling. She wasn't showing herself and Judai remembered why. "Oh right," Judai said as he looked at the girl still standing in the doorway. "Come sit down and we'll watch some cartoons," Judai offered as he reached for a remote to turn on a wall mounted television.

_"As long as a new threat doesn't appear, I would like you to take it easy for a while, you need a break,"_ Yubel's voice told him._ "You're not… as young as you used to be," _she added humorously. Sometimes they joked about that since he often spoke of how easily he got tired lately. He was still in very good shape though, but the frequent travels eventually wore him down and he required a vacation just like anyone else. Then there were times when old injuries were already coming back to haunt him.

As he found some cartoons, the blue-eyed child slowly proceeded further into the apartment until she reached the sofa and climbed up on it. He turned up the volume a little and placed the remote on the armrest before relaxing again. After a yawn escaped he let his head fall back and closed his eyes.

"The guest room is ready," Asuka said as she came back in. "I put a shirt on the bed for you to sleep in," she said to the girl. "I can put your clothes in the wash so they'll be clean for tomorrow."

The girl looked at Judai for reassurance or guidance, but he wasn't paying attention. He wasn't asleep yet, but he was certainly checked out mentally for the day. Asuka stepped behind the sofa and placed her hands on his shoulders. He cracked an eye open and look up at her standing behind him.

"I heard you," he said.

"I was going to go ahead and make us something to eat for a late dinner," she told him.

"Sounds good, thanks," Judai smiled.

"You sure are tired. I thought you said you slept on the plane?"

"I did, but it was lightly and frequently interrupted," he explained. "Want some help?"

"That would be nice, but if you're so tired you should probably just head to bed," she told him.

"I'll be fine, I'm more hungry than tired now anyway," he chuckled as he stood up.

"If you say so, you can start setting the table," she offered.

"What are we making?" Judai asked as he followed his wife to the kitchen.

She was about to answer and then paused. "Honestly, I planned to go out tonight since you were originally going to be home so early."

Judai scratched the back of his head. "Heh, sorry," he apologized about the inconvenience. This wasn't the first time he brought home a near-stranger to sit at their table for an evening. Sometimes he would make a random friend and want to talk for hours about dueling, so eventually Judai would invite them home for dinner. Asuka was prepared for situations such as unexpected dinner guests, but this was the first time they had a young child dining with them.

"Perhaps we have something a little more kid-friendly to make tonight," Asuka pondered aloud as she opened a couple cupboards. Judai looked in the freezer and then the refrigerator.

"Should we order delivery?"

"Maybe, it's kind of late for that though, and we would still have to decide," Asuka said. "What did you eat recently?"

"I've been getting sandwiches on the go," Judai answered. "How about you?"

"Just the usual." Asuka suddenly spotted something in one of the cupboards. "Ha, perfect," she smiled as she reached for it. Judai watched as she started taking out items and place them on the counter. When he figured out her idea, he smiled and nodded in agreement.

Rice, tempura, and some fruit should be agreeable to the girl. They would just ask her, but she hadn't answered many other questions today. Asuka was also going to fry some carrot wedges. There wasn't going to be any time to make some soup too, but they were probably going to head to bed soon after dinner anyway.

Judai put some water on for tea and got the dishes ready before sitting back down to watch cartoons. "So we didn't get to play video games today, so we'll play some tomorrow, okay?" he asked. She looked at him for a second and then turned her attention back to the television. He felt like he was just brushed off, but remembered she has been like this all day, besides the little communication she's had only with him. She has ignored everyone else to a further extent.

Everything was prepared in little time and they set everything on the table. Asuka asked the girl to eat with them, and she did, albeit wordlessly. As Judai cleaned the dishes after they finished, Asuka got the girl ready for bed.

Asuka hoped the girl didn't require any medication, but had a guest pack of travel toiletries so the girl was at least able to brush her teeth and wash up. The clothes Asuka had found for the girl were still too big, but acted as a night gown while Asuka got her clothes in the wash. They were quite dirty from her time alone in the foliage. As Asuka started the washing machine, she mused that her husband's laundry was going to have to wait until the next day, not that he took many clothes with him on his travels. She didn't really like to think about that though. Long ago she decided she was better off not knowing how many days he would go before changing his underwear while he was on an adventure. Therefore, she tried not to think about it. He had always been a little more lax about his hygiene than she was, and she accepted that before she married him. It was no mystery, but still not something she particularly liked about him. However, he was fairly on top of his cleanliness while he was home, so at least she didn't have to worry about that.

When Asuka put the girl to bed, the child fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Asuka was glad for that as she turned the lights out and headed to her bedroom that she shared with her husband. She noticed while still in the hallway that all the other lights in the apartment appeared to be turned off other than their bedroom light.

She entered the room after turning off the hallway light and saw Judai collapse on the bed heavily. He sighed into the covers since he was lying face down.

"Aren't you going to at least change first?" Asuka said as she closed the door and then made her way over to her dresser so she could retrieve her night clothes. She heard him mumble into the covers and he didn't budge. He was exhausted and she knew it. "You know you can't take up the whole bed either, right?" she said since he was sprawled across parallel to the pillows.

Judai pushed himself to roll over and yawned. "So tired…"

"I know," Asuka said sympathetically. "But if you can't get up, then I'm going to have to take your clothes off for you." She immediately regretted saying that when she saw him smirk. "Not like that you prev," she sighed and smacked his leg as she walked by.

"Ow," he said, even though it didn't hurt. He sat up and saw her begin to dress before he finally stood up and got changed himself.

He even managed to brush his teeth before getting back into bed. Asuka was only going to be another minute as she finished washing up. He did his best to wait up for her, but he was fading fast. Their bed was the most comfortable bed he'd ever been in. It was one of the things he looked forward to the most on his journeys back home.

Asuka returned and slid into bed by getting under the covers. She didn't reach for her digital reading device or even a crossword as she went straight for the remaining lamp on her end table and turned it off, leaving the room in gentle darkness. Moving closer to him, she rested up against him on her side. He could barely keep his eyes open more than a crack, but still wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, urging her to use him as her pillow. He was asleep within seconds after she got situated and she followed soon after.

As per usual, Asuka was the first to rise. Like most first mornings right after Judai got home from his travels, she was surprised to find him in their bed. There was always a second where she wasn't sure who it was. By the second morning, they always returned to their normal lives.

She sat up and looked at him. He was still sleeping, so she brushed his bangs to one side. This only caused him to stir a little and stretch out his legs. He made a noise as he kind of said something, but he wasn't going to wake. Asuka shrugged and then got up and picked out her clothes for the day before she left to wash up and start breakfast.

On the way to the kitchen, she remembered the clothes in the washer and put them in the dryer. She could get Judai's laundry started later, or he could start it himself if he remembered first, as long as he remembered how to use the machine.

Asuka put on water to boil and got the rice cooker ready. When she turned around to set the table, she saw the mute nameless girl that her husband found yesterday coming out of the extra room. The girl probably heard that Asuka was up.

"Good morning," Asuka greeted, but didn't wait for the girl to respond. She knew the girl was either set on not saying a word or mute. "Your clothes are in the dryer right now and will be done before breakfast is done. Do you want to help set the table?"

The girl fiddled with the edge of her large shirt and looked around the apartment with concerned eyes.

"Judai is still sleeping, he'll be out for breakfast when it's ready," Asuka smiled, guessing that's what the girl was looking for.

Asuka wasn't surprised when the girl remained silent, but was surprised when the girl quickly entered the kitchen and reached for the stack of bowls on the counter and took them to the table. Asuka thought it was cute how the girl had decided to help so it would be done sooner.

"Judai likes fish, but I can make you some chicken or extra sausage if you like those better," Asuka offered, but the girl shook her head. "So fish is fine?" Asuka asked and the girl nodded. "And do you like fried eggs?" Again, the girl nodded. "Alright, while I cook those, how about you wash some vegetables and peel a few mandarins?"

Asuka didn't cook meals for three often, but it wasn't a challenge and does not take lot of extra time. She even made sure to prepare a smaller portion of fish for the guest. She wished she had something simple like cereal that she could offer the girl. However, even if there was any cereal in the pantry, it wouldn't be the sweet kind that kids tend to like more. Neither she nor Judai had much of a sweet tooth, and when they did, they didn't partake in it for breakfast. Mandarins were sweet enough at breakfast.

Once the table was almost set, Asuka decided to give the girl another task. "Would you get Judai for me while I get your clothes out of the dryer?" she asked. The girl nodded and ran off down the hallway. Asuka forgot to consider how the girl was going to wake him up without speaking.

As Judai still lingered between dreamland and waking, he thought he heard someone say his name. He didn't think anything of it, he was still asleep after all, but not for long. Judai woke up when someone pinched his ear, causing him to only smack himself when he tried to stop them. Groggily, he cracked open a blurry eye expecting to see Asuka frowning down at him for sleeping in.

He had to blink a couple times when instead he saw brown hair and deep blue eyes. Even he tried to remember his life and if had a child of his own already before yesterday's events came rushing back to him. Judai sat up with his feet on the floor while he rubbed his eyes for a second.

"Did Asuka send you to come get me?" he asked and the girl nodded. "Is breakfast ready?" he asked and the girl nodded again. Judai grinned at that. "Alright!" he said and stood up. He hurriedly opened a dresser and grabbed clean clothes for himself. "I'll be there in just a minute!" he said before disappearing into the bathroom to get ready.

Asuka stepped out into the hallway and found the girl standing outside the bathroom. "Your clothes are dry, so how about you get dressed too?" she offered. The girl wordlessly took her clothes and went back to the room she was using.

Asuka wished the girl would communicate little more in some way. Maybe she would in time. However, she hoped that time would not be necessary and that she would be returned home soon. Asuka was actually rather surprised that she hadn't received a single call about the girl and the status of finding her parents. She desperately tried not to think of the worst, but what if the girl came from an abusive home and was abandoned? Who could do such a thing? What if being found by Judai was the best thing that could have happened to her? What will happen to her if they don't find her home? There were so many questions.

Asuka's mind continued to ponder the possibilities while at the same time she tried not to. She went back to the kitchen and poured some tea, but simply stared into the liquid.

"Are you alright?" Judai's voice came from behind her.

She turned to face him and gave him the cup she was holding. "I'm fine," she said before pecking his lips and turning back to get another cup of tea.

"Are you sure? You seemed pretty worried," he pressed.

"Just thinking about when we might hear from the police about the investigation," she said and they both sat down.

"I'll head back there later to talk to them," he said.

"I have to work tomorrow, so unless I can get her in the daycare nearby, you'll have to stick around and provide supervision," Asuka said.

"Well, hopefully another day won't be needed, good to have a plan though," Judai said. "Anyway, it's time to eat," he said and started with the first bite. "It's good," he praised when he swallowed. He really did appreciate how she cooked for him.

The girl came back in and looked at them. "Come sit," Asuka gestured an empty chair. The girl did as she was told. Judai was already eating enthusiastically and not really paying as much attention to the girls. "You better hurry up and eat something, otherwise Judai will get to it first," Asuka laughed causing Judai to pause and pout at her.

"What? I wouldn't do that," Judai defended. Asuka simply looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "It happened once," he muttered and she looked at him again in the same way. "Okay, twice, but that was a long time ago!"

"I know, kidding," Asuka laughed softly before she went back to eating.

Judai saw the girl beginning to eat as well and went back to finishing his own food.

After only a couple minutes, Asuka's phone rang so she excused herself to answer it. Judai didn't listen in and kept eating since he was almost done. He remembered he still needed to call Johan to let him know his trip back to Domino was successful. Sometimes weird things happened which put Judai on a whole other adventure when he was supposed to be home bound. It hadn't occurred in a while, due to Judai's massive ally network around the world helping him in his quest to not only bond the humans with the spirits, but also keep the peace so he is only called for more serious or world threatening problems these days. This didn't mean he got to relax between his travels though. There were always weird things happening in Domino that he found he needed to address. This city seemed to attract trouble and people who needed help with spirits.

Asuka returned to the table. "They investigated all night and didn't find anything, no one has come forward either, and I'll be updated again later today," she said. "It's likely her guardians don't know she is missing yet, like if she was supposed to be with a babysitter or at a birthday party, that kind of thing, so we need to give it some more time."

"Weird," Judai said. Honestly, he wasn't expecting any good news. His intuition told him the investigation wasn't going to help. This left one thing. "After I'm eating, I'll head out with Hane Kuriboh and Yubel and we'll see what we sense in the area," he said.

"Do you think this is related to monster spirits?" Asuka asked. Every once in a while a seemingly unrelated matter did in fact involve monster spirits.

"Not really, but it doesn't hurt to check," Judai explained. "Will you be okay here with her?" he asked his wife.

"I think we'll be fine, like you said yesterday, there's lots of video games we can play until you get back," Asuka smiled at the girl. "Just remember, I have to work tomorrow, so if this isn't solved by tomorrow morning, you're going to be in charge."

Judai saluted. "No problem," he grinned. He finished up his meal and rinsed his dishes before gathering his keys, deck, duel disk, and mobile phone. "Alright, heading out!" He stopped at the door while Asuka took her dishes to the sink.

"Good luck," she said.

Judai got his motorcycle and rode it to the police station. He updated the counselor in person about the girl's behavior and that she still wasn't speaking. The investigation was currently looking into foster and group homes to find out if any of them lost the girl.

When he left not long after arriving, he tossed his keys in the air and caught them as he strolled back to his bike. Next he was going to check around the place he had found the girl for any more clues that he, Yubel, or Hane Kuriboh could pick up on. There has to be something somewhere that would point him in the right direction and he found out long ago that the authorities could and would only do so much.

"Let's see…" Judai wondered as he drove by the park he was at yesterday. He was trying to find the cluster of trees the girl was hidden in.

Eventually, he parked back at home when he decided to retrace his steps and how he found her. Hane Kuriboh was able to remember the path that was taken, but this time they took their time to look around. Judai reached the trees and had found nothing thus far, but he was optimistic since his search had just begun.

He wandered around through the trees a bit and passed through the clearing he was in yesterday. "Sense anything?" Judai asked. Both Yubel and Hane Kuriboh felt nothing out of the ordinary. "Hey, the street is over on his side," Judai noticed and started through the brush.

As he walked, he noticed the already broken stems and twigs of plants. They were all low to the ground. The girl might have come through this way. Judai originally thought she got there from the park on the other side, but now it appeared there was a chance his first assumption was incorrect.

He got to the end of the cluster of trees and found himself at a chain fence up against a sidewalk and a low-traffic street on the other side. When he looked over, he found a place where the fence was split at a pole and one of the connecting links to hold on the pieces to the pole was broken towards the bottom. Judai knelt down to get a closer look. With the back of his hand, he pushed against the fence to test out far it could open. Then he grabbed some of the links and pulled it towards him carefully, finding that it indeed opened wider going into the trees than out.

"Interesting," Judai said aloud and stood back up. "Yubel, wanna help me over this fence?" he asked.

"_You can get over it yourself, can't you?_"

"With some effort, but I'm tired, please?"

Yubel sighed. "_Of course_," the spirit said with a slight roll of her eyes, but she smiled nonetheless. By lending Judai some strength and stamina for just a few seconds, he was able to jump straight up without a running start to catch the top of the fence and pull himself over to land smoothly on the other side.

"Phew, thanks," he said. He looked around again to make sure no one saw him.

It appeared to mostly be businesses on this side. He already knew that though. The drycleaners he and Asuka used was up the street on the corner. Further down where he stood now, he could see an antiques shop, an art gallery, a dance studio, and a bicycle shop. He was pretty sure a convenience store was next to the drycleaners, so he headed up the street that way.

He had asked to the cashier in the shop if anyone had come through asking about a missing child, and they said that the police were in there the night before asking the same thing. No signs were put up, even though there was space for one in the window. Due to the situation, there weren't any signs to put up because they already found the child, now they just needed the legitimate guardians to come forward. Judai thanked them before purchasing an iced tea that he could drink as he strolled back down the other way.

There didn't appear to be anything suspicious around here, but he kept an eye out nonetheless. He knew how to look like an idle tourist or shopper and was able to take his time and appear to be window shopping while he was really checking out the area for spirits or anything out of place. There was a mental note made of every face that passed by in either direction. Every once in a while he would pay a little closer attention to someone whenever they looked like they were looking for something or were in a visible mood.

Judai made it down to a shop that sold infant and baby supplies, like clothes, toys, learning tools, and furniture. He didn't know a shop like this was so close to where he and Asuka were living. It got him thinking. For all he knew, he could be back at this very shop within the year. They were close to ready to start their family. Settled into their lives and the world was in another time of peace concerning paranormal and dueling-related matters, all they had to do when they were ready was start trying. Judai didn't know how much longer this time of peace would last, but he sensed it was going to last a while, so maybe a year or two before another serious threat came along that he would have to personally take care of.

With Asuka's teaching career, Judai knew he would be the one to set aside the dueling tournaments for a while to look after their infant after her maternity leave would end. If anything came up that required Judai to be away from home as well, both his and Asuka's parents could help them out, and those weren't their only options.

Still, after thinking about it time and time again, Judai had a hard time seeing himself as a father. He wasn't sure why. It seemed to come so easily to Johan though. Judai wondered if it would be anything like that for him as well. Though he was almost sure he would make every classic mistake in the book.

"We already searched this area three times, she must be long gone by now," a male voice said in passing. Judai listened in as he continued to drink his tea and look interested in the shop windows.

"I can't believe we lost her," a second male voice sighed. "What else are we supposed to do?"

"At least we found the woman, but we need to find that kid," the first voice added.

This conversation certainly perked Judai interest. When he sneaked a glance at who was walking by, he knew he had already seen both men in passing on just this stretch of the road. First they were seen separately, now they were together.

Judai reached into his pocket, feeling for something he hoped was still in there from his last mission. He smirked when it was. Ready, he turned and followed the two men and quickly caught up to them. Reaching up, he patted the shoulder of one, causing them both to turn and face him. They were both taller than him. Judai was used to that though. He grew a little taller in his young adulthood, but he still wouldn't be considered tall.

"What?" the first man said gruffly. Both men were wearing duel disks. Judai was itching to duel, but he had to be more subtle than that.

Judai put his hand behind his own head and bowed politely. "Uh sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear that you lost something?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I can tell you're not from around here, in general the people of this neighborhood are kind, so you might try lost and founds or the police station if you lost something really important," Judai offered.

"Sure, we'll do that, thanks," the man nodded and quickly turned back to keep walking.

"_You're pretty good at that, neither one noticed you planted one of O'Brian's trackers on him_," Yubel praised.

"Yeah, well so far they are the only suspicious things I've come across today, so I'm going to find out what they're up to," Judai said. "You heard what they said, maybe they're looking for… the kid." He really wished he knew her name.

"_They do not appear to be related to her_," Yubel pointed out.

Judai nodded. "You're right. This is why I directed them to the police if they are willing to go. Even if I did find her guardians, I can't just hand the kid over to someone anyway since Asuka and I took legal responsibility for her, they have to go through the police."

Yubel agreed there. These men were their only lead so far, so it was worth looking deeper into. Still, there might still be some clues around that he could sense or find that the police could not, so he was going to continuing looking for a little while longer.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Looks like Judai and Yubel found a clue. What else might they find?


	4. The Next Step

**Yu-gi-oh! GX  
>Lost Blue-Eyed Child<strong>

**Chapter 4: The Next Step**

Judai kept wandering while looking for clues and talking to people in the area for hours before he decided to head home late that afternoon. Along the way his cell phone started vibrating in his pocket. He looked at it and saw it read Austin O'Brian on the display, so he answered it right away.

"Hey, I see you noticed I activated a tracker," Judai began.

"Yes, so what's going on?" O'Brian asked casually.

"Nothing urgent, well it's kind of urgent, do you have a few minutes so I can explain?" Judai asked.

"Sure," O'Brian said.

Judai explained how he came across the mute girl that could see spirits, but there have been no missing child reports, so he and Asuka took her home to care for while the official investigation continued. He and Yubel thought there was something fishy and looked around, and there were some guys talking and acting like they were up to something so Judai wanted to see what they were up to because they might be a clue towards finding out where the girl came from and where she belongs.

"Well you were right about tracking this guy, he's been circling the same few blocks since the tracker was activated, I'll send you the data," O'Brian said.

"Interesting, I'm on my way home now, so I'll see it in a few minutes," Judai said. "I'll call you back," he added and they both hung up after O'Brian's acknowledgment.

Judai put his phone back in his pocket and proceeded on his way.

"_Judai, look,_" Yubel stopped him.

"What?" Judai looked around.

"_There, the flowers_," Yubel pointed at an open flower shop.

Judai sighed in relief. Yubel always had a love of flowers. "Yes, they're nice," he said as he went over to look at them.

"_You should buy some flowers for Asuka,_" Yubel said. "_I like these ones,_" she looked at one variety of white ones.

"Okay, we'll get some of those and we can mix them into a bouquet," Judai said. "I'm going to get some of these red ones too. Think these look good together?"

"Nice choice, sir," the shop attendant said. It surprised Judai for a second.

"Oh, and do you have little bouquets, like for kids?" he asked the young woman.

"We have daisy bouquets at the counter, something like that?" she offered.

Yubel nodded so Judai nodded too. "Okay, I'll get one of those too." He followed the shop attendant to the counter so he could get ringed up and he picked out a colorful daisy bouquet for the girl.

"Are these for a special occasion? Birthday, anniversary, or something else?" the shop attendant asked while wrapping up the red and white flowers into a bouquet.

"Nope, just because," Judai shrugged. He figured he didn't have to explain it was for his wife due the wedding band on his finger. They were for Yubel, since Yubel liked them and wanted him to buy them. He knew the flowers could be for anybody in his life from the view of the attendant.

"Are these apology flowers?" she laughed nervously.

"Nope, just because," Judai repeated. The only time Judai got apology flowers for Asuka, it was actually just one flower, a rose, and it wasn't that she was actually angry with him, but he felt bad for canceling a date because of a duel. "I just got back from business overseas last night, so I'm doing something nice. Sometimes I make dinner, or we go out, and today is flowers," he explained.

"That's nice, well here you go," the shop attendant said after setting the bouquets down on the counter. Judai held up his card for the payment method and soon it was swiped and he got his receipt.

Once he left the shop he looked at Yubel. "Think she'll like them? I don't do flowers often."

"_Oh yes_," Yubel nodded. "_I bet she'll even get out her mother's vase to put them in_."

Judai carried the bouquets back home. As usual, he continued to keep an eye out, but didn't see anything of interest. Yubel didn't sense anything and Hane Kuriboh didn't noticed anything either. When he reached his complex, he checked the mail.

"I'm back," Judai announced when he finally got back inside.

He placed the mail on the table as Asuka approached from the living area. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Might have lead on something," he said. "I have to check some data, but here," he said and presented her the flowers in his other hand.

"What's this for?" she asked as she took the flowers and smelled them.

"Just because," he said. "Yubel picked out the white ones," he told her.

"They're nice, thank you both," she smiled. "I should get these in some water." She moved into the kitchen area and put the flowers down on the counter so she could reach for a vase. Yubel was right, Asuka did retrieve the vase her mother gave her.

Judai moved to the living area where the mute girl was playing a video game. It was one of the many duel simulation games Judai had picked up. This was one where you could design your character and the player has to duel through elemental levels and win better cards for your deck to beat the final boss. It was also single player. Many of the tournament style games Judai owned had the option of multiplayer, however he rarely used them when he had guests because they could just go outside and duel with their own decks and duel disks.

"I know you're probably itching to go home by now," Judai started to the girl. "Here's something to help you feel better," he grinned and presented the daisy bouquet. "You should show them to Asuka and see her flowers too," he said as he offered it to her.

The girl seemed happy. She looked at the flowers before hopping off the couch and running into the kitchen to show them to Asuka. Judai picked up his laptop and sat down on the couch to check out the data O'Brian sent him.

He looked over the map and every point the tracker recorded were in the same area and they never stopped in one place for long. They had circled the same half mile three times in this set of data. Judai was about to call O'Brian when he saw another set of data was sent to him, so he looked at it first.

It appeared the person that was being tracked had spent some time around the park Judai visited yesterday and had passed by this apartment complex just a short time ago. In fact, they might have been behind Judai by mere minutes. Just what were they up to just walking around this residential area after so much time circling the community areas? Judai considered they might live nearby, but his gut was telling him to be suspicious.

Judai felt a hand on his shoulder and looked behind him to see Asuka standing behind the couch. "Is everything alright?"

"Hard to say," he answered honestly. "I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet, but I have a suspicion that these two guys are looking for her and that something bad happened yesterday."

Asuka was silent as she thought about it. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"For now, I have to wait," he said. "How did things go with the kid while I was gone?"

Asuka thought for a moment. "Dr. Kouga called and we discussed some communication strategies to try, so after I was done on the phone, I tried a drawing exercise with her. I asked her to draw her family or her house, and she drew that," she pointed to the table Judai currently had his feet on.

Judai moved his laptop aside and picked up the papers. "Stick-figures," he chuckled.

"As you can see, there is a man, a woman, and a child," Asuka observed.

Judai looked at it again. There was a tall figure with short hair, a figure wearing a dress with long hair, and a child. "So she does have parents out there somewhere," he added.

"I think so," Asuka agreed.

"Wait, what's this?" Judai looked at some other papers with drawings. "Is this us?" he asked and Asuka nodded.

"I asked her to draw us, because I wanted to make sure the previous drawing wasn't just us, as you can see, there are a number of differences," she said. "For one, she drew Yubel."

Judai chuckled. "Yeah she did, I didn't think she had got a good look at Yubel." The male figure had spiky hair and the female figure was wearing Asuka's clothes and hairstyle. "Oh and there's Hane Kuriboh, that's so awesome!" he grinned and looked at the next one.

"There I asked for her to draw her house."

"That's a lot of windows for a house," Judai observed. "Think it's an apartment?"

"Very likely," Asuka nodded.

"Did she talk at all today?" Judai asked as the girl came back to them to sit with him on the couch.

"Not a word," Asuka said and looked like she was going to say something else, but paused. "I'll tell you later," she said.

Judai titled his head in confusion. "Alright." He picked up his laptop and moved to the table. "I'm going to make some phone calls," he informed.

The first call be made was short. Most of his conversations with O'Brian followed that trend though. O'Brian told Judai to figure out what the men he tracked were up to, because they were likely up to no good due to their travel pattern. If they were related to Judai's current mission, then great, if not, it was still something to be addressed.

Judai sighed heavily. "Work, work, work," he muttered as he typed some notes. "Oh yeah," he said to himself and picked up his phone again. "Gotta call Johan," he said. He nearly forgot again. It should be about nine o'clock in the morning there, so it was safe for Judai to call now and not disturb his friend's sleep nearly halfway around the world.

Their conversation lasted a little longer, but was still fairly short. Judai told him he would write him an email about his latest case so Johan could get back to his children who required his attention. When Judai hung up the phone, he noted the battery needed to be charged so he got up to put his cell phone on his dresser in the bedroom where he kept the charger.

He noticed one of the drawers was slightly ajar so he looked inside to find his clothes were already cleaned and put away. Asuka must have put them in the washer while he was gone. "Hey, Asuka?" he called for her when he exited their room.

"Yeah?" she responded.

"Do you do my laundry?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered and looked at him as he stood next to the couch.

"Thank you," he said. Judai wasn't expecting her to do it. "Tomorrow I think I'll make an all American breakfast," he grinned.

"Do we have the ingredients for that?" Asuka wondered.

"Yeah, I saw it last night," he nodded.

"It's been a while since I've had that kind of breakfast, even though I used to eat it all the time," she said.

"While you were in America?" Judai chuckled.

"Of course, there were some great places to eat around campus," she smiled fondly at the memory of her college days, the parts she got to have leisure time. She worked so hard that she didn't allow herself to have as much fun as she would have liked. American food was one of the few things she got to be adventurous about in college. Some was great, some was not. From the stories of Judai's worldly adventures, he visited America somewhat frequently and had also got to try many things while he was there, so they had plenty to talk about food-wise when they rekindled their friendship when they met up again.

Hane Kuriboh got Judai's attention to make him go back to the bedroom. Judai followed the small spirit and saw the display on his phone lit up from the doorway before he heard the vibration against the dresser. He quickly moved to answer it and was surprised by the name on displayed on the screen.

"Yugi?" he questioned himself before answering. "Hello," he began.

"Hi Judai, this is Yugi, it's been a while," the man on the other end began.

"Yes it has," Judai smiled pleasantly. "Is this call social or business?" Judai heard Yugi chuckle nervously. "It is business, isn't it? What's wrong?"

"I just wanted to check up on you," Yugi began. "You see, I'm in L.A. right now, I'll be back in Domino for this promotional event soon, but I just wanted to check how Domino is doing?"

Judai hummed to himself as he thought. "I was in Scandinavia up until yesterday, and before I could do anything I started working to help this lost child who can also see spirits find her parents and it hasn't been easy so far, so I haven't even been able to do a sweep of the city yet…"

Yugi was silent for a more than few seconds and Judai began to wonder if the call disconnected. "So nothing major is happening at least, that's a relief, I just had a feeling I should call and check on you."

"I understand, and even though I haven't sensed anything to worry about, I'll do a sweep soon," Judai assured. "This city, you know?" He added humorously.

Yugi chuckled. "It attracts weird trouble, I know," he said. "Oh by the way, have you heard about my upcoming event with my friend?"

"Oh yeah, I saw a poster while I was out yesterday," Judai nodded.

"I have some passes to give away, so if you're interesting in coming–"

"Whoa, are you serious?"

"Yes, could I come by when I get back to Domino and give them to you?" Yugi inquired. "It would be nice to see you again."

"Of course, it's been a while," Judai agreed. "Do you know what day you'll be back?"

"Unfortunately, not quite yet, just soon, but I will call you before I head over."

"Alright, works for me, I'll let Asuka know as well."

They finished up and Judai put his phone down again and made sure it was still charging.

"Huh, so many calls today, I must be popular," he chuckled at his own joke before heading back to the main room to tell Asuka.

Some time passed before Asuka decided to start on their dinner by herself, so Judai moved himself and his laptop back to the couch so he would be out of the way. He stared at the screen and tried to plan his next course of action. Really, he had done everything he could. All that was left was to keep looking and keep an eye on the people he was tracking in case they were connected to the girl somehow.

He finally turned off the laptop and started to help Asuka when someone knocked on the door. Judai moved to answer it and found Doctor Kouga on the other side.

"What brings you by?" Judai asked as he stepped aside to let the man enter.

"I told Asuka-san that I could possibly bring over a foster care package when I did an inspection of your home," he said.

"An inspection?" Judai repeated unhappily. "What's this about?"

"It's just standard procedure, really I just had to make sure you had a certain standard of living that was suitable for a child," Doctor Kouga explained.

"Uh-huh…" Judai frowned. No one inspected the roach infested Red Dorm years ago, which housed students too. It was far from standard compared to the other dorms. This apartment was a far cry from anything like the Red Dorm. While Judai was tolerant of certain living conditions, Asuka desired some comfort and security in her living space, which this apartment provided.

While Asuka greeted and spoke with the psychologist, Judai continued prepping dinner in the kitchen area as he listened to them. The foster care package was a bag with just a few items for the kid. It included a set of pajamas, a pair of pants with an elastic waistband, a simple t-shirt, a pair of socks and underwear, house slippers, a hairbrush, and a stuffed animal. If they needed anything else, they were urged to give him a call. When the girl's guardians were found or a more permanent arrangement settled in the event they are not found soon, they could simply pack up the bag and send it with her to keep.

"Thank you for bringing this stuff, I was about to ask my brother to get some of my childhood clothes from our parent's house, but he's already pretty busy that a trip out there on short notice would have been a hassle," she explained.

Asuka offered Doctor Kouga to stay for dinner, but he declined due to other business he had to attend to. To be polite, Asuka walked him outside and saw him get into his car, which was parked on the street. When she returned, dinner was all but ready.

"Thank you for taking over," Asuka said as she gathered the dished to get ready.

Judai chuckled. "You don't have to thank me," he said. "Hey, kid," he called over to the girl. "Take a seat over here and we'll eat," he told her. The girl was looking through the bag she had been given. When she sat down, the table was already being set with their side dishes.

After they ate, Asuka took the girl to the bath and gave her the new pajamas to dress in afterwards. Then she and Judai cleaned up the kitchen. "What's your plan for tomorrow?" she asked.

"I will probably head out with the kid, continue searching, I was thinking about looking for any apartment buildings that looks kind of like the picture she drew," he explained. "I'll keep talking to her too, hopefully she'll respond at some point."

"Alright," Asuka responded and then tidied up the living room area. She was about to close the curtains when she looked outside. "That's weird, I think that's Doctor Kouga's car, what is it still doing here?" she said.

"Huh?" Judai came up next to her and looked outside too. "The green one parked on the street side?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was sure I saw him get into that car when he was getting ready to leave," she said.

"Could be a different green car?" Judai suggested.

Asuka thought about it. "I guess it could, but what are the odds?" she asked.

Judai nodded at that and then noticed something. "I'm going to check something," he said and started for the door where he put on his shoes and jacket.

"Judai," Asuka stopped him when he put on his duel disk. "Be careful."

He smiled for her. "Sure," he said and opened the door.

Judai jogged through the parking lot and to the street where the green car was parked under a streetlamp. He frowned when he approached it. The lights inside the car were still on, the key was in the ignition, but the engine wasn't running, there was no sign of the doctor, and the driver side door was slightly ajar.

"As I thought…" he said and looked around. It was already fairly dark, even with the streetlamps. "But where did they go?" There were plenty of shadows for someone or something to hide in. Darkness wasn't enough to hide from him though.

"_Judai_," Yubel appeared. "_Do you feel this_?"

"Yeah." His eyes turned gold and he stared into the distance, closing in on something. "There," he said. He patted his deck to make sure it was still there and then ran off. He and Yubel knew this feeling well. There was a duel spirit here and it was still close.

Judai ran pretty far. He should have used the motorcycle at this rate. The spiritual energy he sensed was already fading. Whatever it was, it must have been summoned for only a minute. There wasn't a duel. He would have sensed a duel from inside his home. Whatever happened to Doctor Kouga was quick.

Hane Kuriboh jumped out from the deck and flew off ahead of him. Even in his surprise, Judai knew to follow the small spirit. He didn't like the direction he was heading. There was a group of warehouses just up ahead.

"Why is it always a warehouse?" Judai grumbled as he carefully followed Hane Kuriboh inside one which was clearly labeled as a rice storage center for some company.

It was very dark, but he didn't have a problem with that. He could see fine in the dark. Hane Kuriboh circled around him as the spirit tried to sense an exact location. Judai waited patiently until the spirit stopped looking and turned to him confused. He had the spirit return to the deck and looked around himself. There had to be a reason Hane Kuriboh came to this location.

"Doctor?" Judai called out as he walked silently between rows of highly stacked crates. "Doc, are you here?"

Judai heard a noise nearby and zeroed in on its source. Doctor Kouga was lying face down on the concrete.

"Doc!" Judai ran to him and rolled him over. "Are you okay? Say something."

The doctor looked at him. The man was obviously shaken up, but coming to. "Yuki-san, no, you should've have come," he said.

Judai pulled the man up to sit and held him up. "What are you talking about, who did this to you?"

Doctor Kouga grabbed Judai's jacket. "They're after her!"

"The kid?"

"I didn't tell them, I didn't tell them she was with you, but they probably already know, they must have followed me to you, I'm sorry…"

Judai frowned. "Put your arm around me, let's get you out of here," he said as he began to guide the man through the dark and outside.

When he put the man back down, he reached for his cellphone in his pocket so he could call an ambulance for the doctor. He reached in one pocket and then the other.

"Oh no," he said.

Back home, Judai's cellphone was buzzing repeatedly on his dresser as someone tried to call him. The display read Austin O'Brian.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Things are happening. Will they ever get the mysterious child home?


	5. When His Eyes Change

**Yu-gi-oh! GX  
>Lost Blue-Eyed Child<strong>

**Chapter 5: When His Eyes Change  
><strong>

"Go on ahead, Neos!" Judai called out as he ran towards home. His eyes changed to Yubel's mismatched amber and jade colors as the Elemental Hero Neos card connected to the duel disk. The mighty hero appeared and flew on ahead as directed.

"_Judai, we don't have enough energy to sustain Neos's physical form for long_," Yubel warned.

"I know, it'll be fine," he responded shortly. He knew he had enough to keep Neos out for more than a few minutes. Neos took about the same amount of energy to summon as Yubel. It was quite a bit, but Judai was in top condition, so he had enough energy to spend.

Doctor Kouga was willing to be left behind since he was mostly unharmed and in no immediate danger. A bump on the head and a couple bruises were not life threatening, so the man was able to stand on his own before he requested for Judai to go on ahead in case something bad happened. Judai felt a little bad for leaving him behind, but didn't have much choice. At this moment, he cursed at himself for not only leaving behind his cell phone, but for not using his motorcycle and opting to go leave on foot. He would have been home in a flash otherwise.

The streets were nearly empty too. At least he didn't look suspicious running home with no one around. He was running at top speed and he would get home shortly.

Back at their apartment, Asuka was wondering how much longer Judai would take when she heard a few knocks at the door. She sighed, knowing Judai probably left his keys behind in his rush out the door earlier. It was no problem since she was still home and could simply open the door for him.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to find it was not her husband on the other side, but instead a woman about her age and two men were standing behind her. Asuka immediately noted how the woman looked nervous and tired. This was definitely something to be cautious and suspicious about. Asuka did not have a good feeling about this.

"Can I help you?" she asked while she reached for the long metal floor duster behind the door.

"H-hello, I'm sorry for disturbing you this evening," the woman started. One of the men nudged her. "I-I am looking for someone–a child, and I heard she was here…"

"I'm sorry," Asuka began stoically, "but unfortunately I cannot help you. You should probably speak to the police and they can assist you," she used her teaching tone.

The woman was nudged again as Asuka started closing the door. "Young Miss, are you here?" the woman called out.

Behind Asuka, the girl appeared from the hallway wearing her new pajamas. "It's her!" one of the men shouted and they started for the door, but Asuka was ahead of them and shut it in time and locked it up in a flash, including the chain and bolt.

When Asuka turned back to look at the girl, she recognized the fear on her face. Asuka quickly put on her shoes and grabbed her coat before picking up the girl's sandals from the entry way. The men on the other side were shouting at her, but she ignored them. She knew what she should do.

Asuka ran through the apartment and scooped up the girl to take with her. She took her to the main bedroom and set her on the bed. "Here, put on your shoes, we're going outside," she said while putting on her coat. "Judai will be back any minute, but until then we have to keep you safe."

While the girl was getting her shoes on, Asuka reached into the top dresser drawer and retrieved a plain cross body bag. She saw Judai's phone on top of the dresser and put in her coat pocket. With the bag secure on her shoulder and across her body, she unlocked the window and opened it.

She kneeled down in front of the girl. "Okay, get on my back and hold on tight," she instructed. "There's a fire escape ladder next to the window."

The girl did as she was told, and took hold of Asuka's shoulders and wrapped her legs around Asuka's waist. Once they were out the window, Asuka could hear the front door being broke down. She could sense the supernatural presence in that moment. It was a familiar sensation, but eerily different than what she was used to around Judai. She wondered if this was the presence of a spirit trapper. Over the years, she had encountered only two trappers herself, but they did not wield spirits themselves. They were merely draining spiritual power for the pleasure of killing, for murder that they couldn't be convicted for by the law.

If it was a spirit trapper, then why were they after the girl? What would be the connection? Could they be going after people with the ability to see the spirits, like Judai and this girl? Maybe it was only children, because they would make easier targets? If so, Johan would have to be warned as soon as possible. Asuka didn't know if his children had any abilities yet, but it was very possible and an enemy might make that connection as well and decide they are a worthy target despite the uncertainty.

It was difficult to release the last part of the ladder to the ground and it fell loudly, likely alerting everyone to her escape. Once Asuka got to the ground, she continued to carry the girl to her car as she dug around in the cross body bag for the spare key chain. It was easy to find and she unlocked the car doors as she approached it. She wished she had time to grab her duel disk as well, but she knew Judai had his, so as long as he returned soon they would have at least one deck.

The girl was put in the backseat behind the driver's seat. "Buckle up," Asuka instructed. This time she didn't wait to make sure the girl was going to do it before closing the door and jumping into the driver's seat. She immediately locked the doors as she inserted the key to start the engine.

The least she could do was take the girl back to the police station at this point. As the car started to roll backwards in reverse, Asuka latched her seatbelt and then took hold of the wheel and started to move the vehicle quickly and out of the parking lot. When she looked in the rearview mirror, she saw the two men reach the bottom of the stairs of her building. She wasn't sure he they saw her, but hers was the only car moving, so they would surely spot her quickly.

Turning onto the street, she headed for the police station as planned. Not even a minute of driving, and she saw Elemental Hero Neos fly by. Asuka knew that meant Judai was nearby, so she continued to drive in the direction Neos came from.

Just as she thought, Judai was running her way seconds later, so she pulled over and rolled down the window. "Judai!" she called out to him.

Judai slowed and approached her car. He could see the girl in the back seat. "What are you doing? What happened?"

Asuka noted the colors of his eyes. She knew what those colors meant. Her eyes darted to his duel disk where the Elemental Hero Neos card laid activated. "I'm taking us back to the police because someone just broke down our front door. What are you doing?"

"They what? Oh man, we're already on thin ice with the landlord over the broken window and the busted half wall incidents, we are going have to move after this one, I know it…" he sighed. "But good idea, get the kid out of here, and the Doc is at the warehouses just off of 54th, he could use a lift."

"Is he okay?"

"I think so, he's shaken up with some bumps and bruises, but he shouldn't be left alone too long in case he has a concussion," he said.

"I'll see what I can do," she nodded. "I'll send you a message later."

Judai nodded as he was about to step away from the car. "Oh wait," he paused. "I left my–" He stopped when Asuka held up his cell phone for him. "Heh, thanks," he said as he took it. "I'll go on ahead and meet our _visitors_."

"Be safe," she told him as he backed away from the car.

"You too," he responded and watched the window close and the car start to drive away. After taking a breath, he started running again.

He didn't get very far before he noticed a light coming towards him. It was much too small to be the headlights of a vehicle. Perhaps it was a flashlight or a bicycle. Judai moved to the side, mostly hidden by a streetlamp post.

The light went by. It was bicycle after all. Judai took his moment to look at his phone and he noticed the missed call from O'brian.

"He was probably trying to warn us since that tracker was still active."

"_Judai, look_," Yubel appeared.

A glowing white object was coming towards him quickly. "It's Neos!"

"_There's another creature behind him_," Yubel observed.

Neos stopped in front of Judai and took on a battle stance for a duel. "Are you ready to duel, Neos?" Judai asked confidently and Neos responded with a quick and stern nod.

The man from earlier today ran towards them and stopped upon seeing Neos. He looked confused at first and then his eyes settled on Judai. "Wait, you're that guy from earlier."

"Oh? Have we met?" Judai taunted.

The man glared and straightened his jacket before lifting his duel disk. "You better not be challenging me, someone just ran off with something very valuable that belongs to me, so I'm kind of in a hurry."

"If you lost something _that_ important, you should really speak to the police," Judai smirked.

"Are you trying to funny? That's what you said earlier!"

"I see you have a duel disk, so maybe we should settle this with a duel. If you win, you may pass, but if you lose…"

"You're going to regret challenging me," he said. "I'm going to crush you!"

"Is that so?" Judai said.

"Yes, because when people challenge me, the duel is over before it even starts!" The man drew a single card from the deck and activated it. "I summon Lesser Fiend! Go for a direct attack!"

"What?" Judai stepped back. The fiend was already coming straight towards him. Neos intercepted the attack and protected him. Lesser Fiend jumped back. "This isn't a duel!" Judai shouted back at the man.

"Get out of my way, or you're going to get hurt," he started. "You see, my monster isn't just a hologram, when he's summoned, he's real!"

Judai looked at the duel monster closely. He was right. It was a real monster, in a similar state as Neos. "Just who are you? How are you using this power?"

"I've collected more spiritual energy than you can imagine, so Lesser Fiend is as real as you or me and he obeys everything I say."

"Collected? Are you a trapper?" Judai accused.

"Sort of, but I'm not like them, they just get in the way, just like you're getting in my way right now with your weird alien and creepy demon there."

Neos and Yubel looked offended. "What are you after?"

"Just one of the most iconic spirits in the city, no, the world, and no one can stop me," he said. "Go Lesser Fiend!"

The duel monster attacked again and Neos fought back. Neos quickly overpowered the fiend. "Looks like you forgot my Neos has higher attack points, he's not so _weird_ now, is he?" Judai retorted. "Neos, it's your turn to take the offensive, go for it!"

Neos sliced through Lesser Fiend with a karate crop and the monster disintegrated. "No way! Holograms can't defeat my Lesser Fiend!"

"Didn't you notice?" Judai started. "Neos and I share a connection, one that allows him to be summoned to our world too." Judai's eyes glowed in a deliberate display of his power.

The man stepped back. "Wait, you're…"

"Get him, Neos," Judai commanded.

"Not so fast!" Someone shouted. Judai held up his hand to halt Neos and they watched the second man from earlier approach with a woman trapped under his arm which was around her neck. His other hand was covering her mouth. "One more inch and the lady gets it," he threatened.

Judai glared. His eyes turned brown and Neos faded away. He was not sure what was going on, but he knew this woman's life was in danger, whoever she was. She had long black hair and brown eyes, which were red and swollen from obvious tears. There was also a bruise on the side of her face.

"I see you brought a date to the party," Judai said dryly, looking toward the woman. "Sorry, I would have invited my wife, but she's never been one for big parties."

"Give us the kid and this one won't get hurt," the second man started.

"What kid?" Judai asked.

"Don't play dumb, the one with the blue-eyes," he said.

"What are you trying to accomplish, anyway?" Judai pressed. "Don't you know that messing with spirits, and making them do your dirty work is dangerous?"

"Yeah, and what about you, huh? What does that make you?" the duelist retorted.

Judai didn't saying anything at first and simply looked at the man. Then he deliberately turned off his duel disk and placed Neos on the deck. "That… is a very long story, but to keep it simple, it makes me even more dangerous."

"Yeah, sure," the man nearly rolled his eyes. He then placed his Lesser Fiend on his duel disk again, and the monster materialized before them without the help of the hologram technology.

Judai had enough of this. This guy should be able to sense his power. A display of darkness should not be necessary. Many other spirit trappers seem to sense it at this point, however some, like this guy, did not. It just meant it was time for this next move. Unfortunately, it meant someone was going to get hurt.

"Hey, I think we should forget this guy," the second man began to back away with the woman still trapped under his arms. This guy seemed to get it. However, he was going to try to escape with his hostage before their plan was ruined, whatever the plan really was.

Yubel's laugh was heard by all of them. "_Judai, these pathetic fools think they can escape after terrorizing our home? Unforgivable."_

Even Lesser Fiend began to back away. "Who… what was that?" The man looked around.

Judai smirked. "Oh Yubel, I didn't realize you wanted to deal with these ones, please, be my guest." Judai turned around as Yubel's form appeared before Lesser Fiend.

"_You there_," Yubel directed towards Lesser Fiend. "_Your master has lost his way, but you cannot standby and contribute to his crimes against your kind and the beings of this world_." Yubel's third eye glowed. The Lesser Fiend's eyes glazed over before they too glowed and he turned on his master.

"What?" The man stepped back as both fiends looked down on him menacingly. "What are you doing? Don't turn on me, attack them!" He looked at Judai duel disk, but could see there were no cards activated. "Just what are you? How are you doing this?"

"Release your hostage," Judai ordered while ignoring the question. "And drop your duel disk." Lesser Fiend was trying to break away from Yubel's control, but it was futile. "Consider it a trade, release her and I'll release him."

The two men looked at each other. The one's grip loosened on the woman, but the duelist shook his head. "Don't let her go, we need her for our plan."

"So there _is_ a plan?" Judai and Yubel looked at each other. "Just what are you up to?" He saw the men look past him, so he looked behind him and saw police lights coming their way before the sound the sirens.

When he turned back, both men were already on the run, but they left the woman since they could run away while dragging her along and decided she wasn't worth keeping as a hostage while under pursuit like this. Lesser Fiend disappeared as his energy source got too far away.

Judai watched the men run away "Darn!" He let them go as he went to the woman, who was on her hands and knees.

She seemed unharmed so he quickly summoned Neos again and sent him after the men. Yubel faded away as Judai stood and pointed in the direction of his home invaders and would be kidnappers went. Asuka must have made it to the police and they responded quickly. Certainly a first since the law enforcement wasn't equipped or trained to handle duelists or spirits. Judai heard of a training program in the academies to include law enforcement so soon police, detectives, and investigators will be coming out of the dueling academies until all schools included a dueling focus.

"Are you alright?" Judai asked the woman when he kneeled back down. One last police car stopped and one of the investigators from the police station stepped out, the one that handled most of their paperwork from the day before.

The woman shook her head.

"We're going to help you," Judai continued. "Can you tell me your name?"

Again she shook her head. Could she be another mute? She couldn't be hearing impaired since he was speaking softly and she was not looking at him.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I've been sworn to secrecy, you can't know anything without…" she trailed off.

Judai was confused. "Okay, I understand," he said. "Just come with me, we have to make sure you're okay and if you can tell us anything about what's going on, that would help us a lot." This time she nodded, and Judai sighed in relief.

"Are you…?"

"I'm not chasing them down, I've got you, the kid they're after, and my wife to protect first," he said. "I will get my chance to deal with them, I always do, so don't worry, you're safe now."

The investigator took over from there and got the woman into the vehicle to take to a medical examiner and also some questioning. Judai waited at the police station until they were told it was safe to return home.

Judai knew they were in for a scolding by their landlord for the damages. He thought it was time to move and maybe buy a house anyway. Something with enough space to duel all he wants with his friends and family. It would certainly make for a better location to deal with intruders of various kinds. He could duel them right on his lawn, instead of on the street or in a parking lot where they could be in the way.

"Judai, did you figure out what those two people were up to?" Asuka asked her husband privately.

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "They want the kid for some reason, that one lady is connected somehow, but they really wanted the kid… I'm certain it has to do with spirits."

Asuka nodded. "We will continue to protect her, you're the one person around that can be trusted to do that in this situation."

This time he nodded. It was going to be just him tomorrow with the kid. He wasn't sure how exactly he was going to go about it, but had already decided he would figure out as he went. There was a chance he would run into those two men again and possibly any other friends or teammates they might have.

"Judai Yuki?" The investigator approached him.

"Yes?" Judai turned, as did Asuka.

"A guardian as stepped forward to claim the child, however, they are away and will be arriving back in the city sometime tomorrow. After we confirm they are who they say they are and that this wasn't a case of neglect, we'll come pick her up and get her home." They were told.

"Really? Who stepped forward?"

The investigator was about to answer and then snapped their mouth shut before laughing nervously. "I was sworn to secrecy on that, I'm sorry."

Judai and Asuka looked at each other. "Weird," Judai said bluntly.

"I really wish I could tell you right now, but you understand," they said. "If everything goes smoothly, it looks like you will only need to look after the child for another day, is that going to work out?"

"It's fine," Asuka answered. "It's getting late, so we would like to get her to bed and I have to get up early tomorrow morning, so are we ready to go?"

"Just one more thing," they began. "Doctor Kouga was cleared to return home as well. His injuries were minor."

"That's a relief," Judai sighed. "I was wondering how he was doing."

"Also, the woman you brought in isn't related to the child, but in light of recent information I just received over the phone, the child was in her care up until yesterday when she was attacked and the girl ran away from the attackers, so we are letting her spend the night in the hospital until morning since the doctors should clear her to return home soon."

Judai nodded in understanding. "I thought it was something like that, they don't look enough alike to be related, but I didn't want to assume anything." He was more concerned with why they were targeted.

Asuka got the car ready when it was time to leave and when they returned home, they found the front door was actually still intact. Part of the latch was broken and the chain had snapped. Overall the door was still usable and could be fixed in the morning. Until then, they used a chair to wedge against the door to prevent additional intruders.

Judai knew those men would not be back tonight. Not so soon. Yubel would be on high alert just in case, so he could rest easy. He informed both Asuka and the still-silent child of this so they could sleep with lower levels of anxiety since they knew he was looking out for them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

They are getting closer to solving this mystery. Is the child really going to get to go home soon?

*Lesser Fiend [2100/1000] is an actual monster card in the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game. I tried to find one that was created before 5Ds, but sometimes it is difficult to confirm when cards were released, so forgive any errors with that.


	6. Closing the Case

**Yu-gi-oh! GX  
>Lost Blue-Eyed Child<strong>

**Chapter 6: Closing the Case**

It was a slow morning after Asuka woke up to her alarm clock. Since they had spent so much time with the police the night before, she couldn't get as much sleep as she would have liked. She was on her side turned away from Judai, but his limbs were tangled around hers and he refused to wake so she could at least turn off the alarm clock quickly. He was never much of a morning person and alarms had little effect on him.

Asuka moved her husband's arms before she could reach the clock. She stared at the time and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

"Morning already?" Judai muttered into his pillow as he reached over her again and drew closer to her warmth. Asuka knew he hadn't even opened his eyes yet to see for himself.

"You should sleep a little while longer, but not too long okay?" Asuka told him as she slid out bed. He simply rolled to the middle the bed and into the covers. "Did you hear me, Judai?"

"…Yeah," he finally answered. "Have a good day."

When Judai opened his eyes again, at least an hour had passed. He sat up and stretched and remembered what he was supposed to be doing today. When he realized Asuka already left for work, he knew he didn't get to make them an all American breakfast like he said he would. He would make it up to her and make it another day. Maybe tomorrow if he actually gets to go to sleep at a normal time tonight and weird stuff doesn't happen. Even if he couldn't make his wife breakfast liked he planned, we still had his self and another he could cook for.

"There wasn't anything else weird last night, right Yubel?" he asked the spirit.

"_I sensed no danger or other spiritual activity for the rest of night, Judai_," she told him.

"Well, that's good at least," Judai said as he got up. "What kind of tea should we have?"

Judai went about his morning and had breakfast on the table by the time the young girl came out of the guest room. He spoke to her as usual, and she remained silent. She didn't have to say anything. He could clearly read a change in her eyes and body language. She was surely more comfortable around him and Hane Kuriboh, who sat on the table near her. However, she seemed to have little energy this morning. It must have been a hard night on her too.

As they ate, he flipped through the latest issue of Duel Magazine. His phone received a message so he stopped to look at it and found it was from O'Brian.

'_The people you encountered last night must be the remaining members of a trapping faction you already apprehended most of. They usually focused on rare cards with high black market value, but lately they have been seeking spirits hoping to become stronger and have more value._'

Judai thought about it. He hadn't run into members of that group in a while and had thought they were gone by now. If the remaining members shifted their focus, they are certainly posing a larger threat if they are attacking women and children to use in their so-called plan. There was definitely something about this blue-eyed girl. He knew that much. She could see spirits and she had an unusually calm demeanor.

He wanted to know more about her, but he was going to focus on getting her home and safe with this little information to go on. It's all he could do for her, besides one other thing.

"Hey, Hane Kuriboh, how about you play with her for a little while?" Judai suggested. "I am going to clean up and get ready to head out."

The little spirit agreed and it was long before Judai heard the girl's laughter and the winged spirit's chirps as they played in the living area while he washed the dishes. As he dried them and began putting them away, he kept an eye on the other two. He wondered if it would be like this with his own kids someday. Would they be able to see spirits like him too?

"_Any child of yours will surely inherit your ability, Judai,_" Yubel interjected his thoughts.

"Hm," he shrugged. He knew Yubel didn't actually know that for sure. It was a bit of a mystery how children developed this ability. Little data has been collected and even less research conducted on the matter.

There was a knock at the door so Judai got it open with a little bit of effort. He wondered how Asuka got it closed when he left. The whole thing was barely staying on properly.

Judai found the complex's maintenance employee on the other side. "Got a request this morning about fixing the door," he said.

"Yeah thanks," Judai said. Asuka must have put the request in before she left.

He looked over it for just a few seconds. "I think I'll just take this one off and put a new one on, new hinges, and switch over the lock, is that okay?"

"Sure, that's fine," Judai nodded.

Overall it was a quick job from Judai's observation. If he ever bought a house of his own, he might have to learn how to do this himself. There were services he could use, but the front door is something that should be taken care of as soon as possible.

After checking to make sure the lock worked properly, they were ready to head out. Judai decided to take the girl up town a little where some more apartment complexes were located to see if any were hers. She didn't seem to recognize any of them. The whole trip took a little over an hour, so he decided to stop for a drink and rest. He got a juice for each of them and sat on a bench as he thought about where to head next. At this rate, he could just follow the wind like he used to when he wandered the globe. It was great when searching for general locations, not really specifics, but maybe it would get him a little closer to their unknown destination.

"I'm not sure where we are headed now, are you okay to keep going?" Judai asked the girl. She simply nodded. He really hoped she understood him and wasn't just nodding when she thought she should.

As they ventured along various pathways through the city, he found himself taking shortcuts he didn't know existed. The wind was showing him a path to follow. While thankful for this, he wished he knew what to prepare for. Sometimes he was led into some really tough situations. Other times he would find someone who simply needed his help.

He was only slightly surprised when he found himself at the entrance of a well-known theme park. "This is Kaiba Land," he said to the girl. Another poster of Yugi Mouto and Jonouchi Katsuya was posted up nearby and some teenagers were looking at it.

The park was seldom packed full on Mondays, so he and the girl were able to enter without waiting in any lines at all. That didn't mean there weren't any crowds. On the contrary, there appeared to be at least a couple of school groups and many other people with smaller children. Everyone else appeared to be young adults that had the day off. Kaiba Land was a popular date location for many couples as well. Even Judai had accompanied Asuka here a few times when they started dating.

There were games, rides, shops, arcades, and food everywhere in the theme park. Not to mention dueling arenas open to the public. Coming here always brought back lots of memories for Judai. Many good, but some were not so good.

"So what do you think?" Judai asked the little girl next to him. He could sense he was here for a reason. She looked up at him with bright blue eyes and smiled. At least she was happy. Many children loved the idea of theme parks.

As they idly walked, he noticed they were heading for the open dueling arenas. They walked in and saw a few duels already in progress. This always perked Judai's interest and he went to check them out.

Two young women were dueling for fun at one arena. They were obviously friends having a single match duel for practice. One was using a wind element themed deck with winged-beast monsters. The other woman was using a magician deck. Normally magicians had the upper hand with a little bit of luck to get the right combos of magic and trap cards out, but it appeared she was struggling with her luck in this duel as her life points were currently much lower and she just played a monster card in defense mode to protect those remaining life points.

His eyes turned to the next dueling pair. They appeared to be a couple on a date. The male youth was using a water themed deck and the female youth was using a light attribute deck of thunder monsters. They appeared to be equally matched in skill, but also seemed to be having fun.

The last group seemed to be practicing. Two men were dueling there. Judai's eyes widened when he actually looked at them. He pulled out his phone, took a picture and sent off a message.

Then he waited with a smirk. The girl was hiding behind his legs and holding onto his dark red outer coat as he watched the men. It wasn't long before they took notice of him as well. He was counting on it.

"Y-you!" One of the men pointed at Judai, the same one pulling the strings of a Lesser Fiend monster spirit.

Judai waved casually. "We meet again, are you ready to settle the score?"

"Why you…"

Judai readied his deck. "Maybe a wager? If you win, you'll get what you want."

"Taka, you should…"

_I can't let this other guy just sneak up behind us during my duel with this 'Taka' guy, but I think I have an idea._

"Since I am a professional duelist, how about I make things I little more fair? This will be a three sided duel, but with the two of you against me." Judai had seen a number of two-on-one duels, but he didn't participate in them much. Not only were the more complicated, they were also risky.

Taka glared and looked around. "Don't mess this up, Kiba," he said. "Get over here."

As the two got into position, Judai knelt down to speak to the blue-eyed girl privately. "You don't have anything to worry about, I promise I'll beat them, but until then, I need you to stand behind that white line over there, okay?" Judai pointed to the sidelines. A duel couldn't, or wouldn't continue if anyone not participating was inside the boundaries due to somewhat recent safety regulations.

The girl went over to where he was pointing as he activated his duel disk. Three-sided duels meant that each player took their first turn before any attacks could be called. Not that Judai was worried about that. He found Winged Kuriboh in his hand on the first draw.

He read the display on his duel disk and saw that he was selected as the first move. "Alright, let's get this started. I place two cards face down and then I summon E-Hero Burst Lady [1200/800] in attack mode, your move."

Kiba was next and he looked over at his cards hesitantly before looking towards his partner. "I place a monster in defense position and end my turn."

Taka was next. "I summon Dark Elf [2000/800] in attack position, place one card face down, and end my turn."

Judai eyed the face down card before drawing a card from his deck. "I activate the spell card, Fusion, to combine Burst Lady with Featherman from my hand to call forth, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman [2100/1200]."

"Taka, this guy is the real thing, I told you!" Kiba shouted.

"Shut it, we can still win this, it's two against one and he's overconfident," Taka snapped back.

Judai heard that last comment about him and wondered if he really seemed overconfident. He thought he was just way more experienced and comfortable. There have plenty been of way harder situations and duels he has faced over the years. No one was even being threatened to be burned to death, or eaten my angry spirits, or to fall off a cliff and into the ocean.

"Wingman, attack that Dark Elf!" Judai declared.

"Reverse card, open!" Taka called out. "Negate Attack." He saved his monster by cancelling the attack.

Judai nearly shrugged, but looked at his cards instead for what to do for his second main phase. He could end his turn now, but since he special summoned this turn, he could still normal summon. Not to mention he could set cards facedown for later. He already had two facedown cards though. If either one of his opponents managed to pull out a card that removes all spells and traps from the field, then it would he all for nothing to place any additional ones now. There was also the possibly that he would have to get rid of his hand over their next turns.

"Alright, nice one," Judai began. "I place a monster in facedown defense mode and end my turn." One powerful fusion monster, a mysterious facedown monster, and two set cards put him in a very good position.

Now it was Kiba's turn again. "I sacrifice my facedown monster to tribute summon Ryu Kokki [2400/2000]." It was an ugly monster with an ugly effect. Luckily, its effect wouldn't do much against Judai's deck, however, that was a lot of attack points to worry about. "And I attack!"

Judai smirked. "Reverse card, open!" The card flipped to reveal a trap card. "Hero Barrier!" It negated the attack and protected his hero monster.

Taka drew his card and look at his hand. "I play the spell, Tremendous Fire, to deal one-thousand points of direct damage to you, while we take five-hundred."

The entire field lit up with flames before quickly dispersing. Judai could feel some serious heat as his life points dropped from four-thousand to three-thousand.

"Now I equip my Dark Elf with Black Pendant, to increase her attack power by five-hundred, and then I attack that Wingman!"

Judai knew about that one and its nasty effect when it's destroyed. He wasn't going to let that elf take out his Hero. "I activate my remaining trap, Hero's Guard, instead of sending my monster to the graveyard, this card goes instead and the battle damage I would have taken is cut in half by removing one Hero already in my grave from play."

Taka looked ready to throw this duel disk to the ground in frustration. He was so sure he got the upper hand. Now that it was Judai's turn again, he knew things were not going to work in their favor on this one.

"That's it, I'm not putting up with this," Taka said suddenly and ran from his spot on the duel arena.

"Taka? Wait!" Kiba call after him. "What are you doing?"

"Bending the rules," Taka glared as he bolted for the girl.

Judai frowned, seeing what was happening. Yubel on the other hand, was furious.

"_How dare that lowlife!"_ Yubel shrieked vehemently.

At first, he didn't even notice his legs were moving, let alone how fast. It wasn't until his fist collided with the other's abdomen did he realize he had moved in front of the girl and stopped that man from snatching her before even she realized what was going on. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Judai knew this confrontation would look interesting on the security footage.

The man fell to his knees with the wind knocked out of him. Judai was surprised by the force he had put into the blow. Yubel was suggesting they do more to the man, but there were other footsteps running towards them. Judai looked over to find it was Kaiba Land security.

Then Judai learned there was actually a holding room inside Kaiba Land. It was simple, just a room with some chairs and a big window to an office area with a desk. There was another waiting area just outside the office. The mute girl was asked to wait there until they could get in contact with her mother, a matter Judai remained silent on and he was certain the girl would too.

Judai and the two men were separated, each sitting on opposite sides of the room. Their duel disks were on the desk beyond the glass in the other room. There was not anyone else present as Judai sat with his legs stretched out and his hands behind his head. He looked relaxed, even though he was anxious about the scolding he would surely receive from his wife after this. Security, police, lawyers, and the like were all things he could deal with, but his wife was the only one that could banish him to sleep on the couch if she got mad at him. Not knowing if this situation would make her mad made him anxious.

Given enough time and energy, he and Yubel could escape this place. He knew that wouldn't be one of his brightest ideas as it could land him in even more trouble. There was also the girl he had to worry about since he couldn't just leave her behind. He just had to wait until he could call his wife. There was no way he was going to bother her at the academy to tell her he was in a holding room inside a theme park. The Marufuji brothers might be in the city, but Judai didn't want to bother them with this either. They were busy with an upcoming event by now anyway if he remembered correctly.

"Why do you interfere?"

Judai looked up to find Taka speaking to him. "I ask myself the same question often," Judai sighed.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"You really want to know my story, huh?" Judai closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "The simple way of putting is that I'm like a spiritual guidance counselor, all those tournaments and stuff is my day job, but the rest of the time, I'm helping whoever I can connect with the spirits attached to them. It's not always easy. Spirits need help sometimes too. Sometimes they find me, or I find them, and then there are groups like yours that cause problems for everyone. I have to interfere, because it's what I'm here for."

"Sounds like a waste," Taka grumbled.

Judai chuckled. "Look kids, I've done more than my fair share of dark things," he opened his eyes, showing them his harsh gold orbs. He closed them again and leaned back. "I thought nothing could get between me and my goals, I did anything to reach it, and I was wrong. Nothing can take back what I did."

"Repenting?" Kiba asked.

Judai simply shook his head.

"Then what?"

"It's…" Judai blinked as he thought about it. "Complicated." Kiba looked disappointed and seemed to actually be interested in what Judai had to say, while Taka scowled at the wall. "When you're ready to step through a different door in life, just knock on mine, all I ask is that you don't knock it down again." With that Judai stood back up and looked out the window and at his duel disk. He still thought that being closed up in here was a bit drastic. Security wasn't kidding about having zero-tolerance towards acts of violence.

Looking at the clock, he could tell that the schools were being let out soon. He would call Asuka's mobile phone shortly. Until then, he had to learn one more thing.

"Why are you after the kid?" Judai asked suddenly. "What does she have that you want so badly?" He was sure he knew the answer, but wanted to hear it.

"It's not what she has, it's what her family has." That was nowhere near the near the answer Judai was expecting.

"So you're not after her because of her ability?" Judai asked.

Taka snorted. "I'm after something much rarer."

"Tell me."

The door opened and a man walked in. "Mr. Yuki, we have received orders from the top to let you continue on your way, you may leave immediately."

"What?" Judai was confused as the door was opened for him. "The top? Does that mean Seto Kaiba?"

"Mr. Kaiba is on business in America right now, Mokuba Kaiba is in charge until he returns."

"So I'm not in trouble?"

"Mr. Kaiba heard your name and took one look at the security footage before giving the order, not that he needed to, because everything was caught on camera, we know what happened and you are not at fault in this situation. Please leave now."

Judai felt like he was practically pushed out the door with his duel disk and found the girl waiting for him. She looked happy to see him and ran up to him. "Ah, sorry, sorry, I made you wait a long time, didn't I?"

She nodded.

"Did you talk to anyone while I was in there?"

She shook her head.

"I should've guessed," he sighed. "You were being a good girl right?" She nodded happily and he smiled. "Well let's get you back, Asuka will worry if we're gone too long."

As they left Kaiba Land, Judai noticed right away that security was keeping a close eye on him. He knew they were probably told to make sure he left without another confrontation. It was kind of creepy.

"Looks like we should make it home in time to meet Asuka when she gets back, but we'll have to hurry," Judai looked down at the girl and saw her rubbing her eyes. He thought she was crying at first, but quickly realized she had yawned. "Tired, huh?" It was an exciting day with a lot of walking around. Judai kneeled down to her. "I can carry you if you want," he offered as she rubbed her eye.

Soon she was situated on his back and he continued on his way. The walk back from here would be quite long, but he knew of a good place to get a taxi if walked at least a little ways and towards the tourist hotels. On the way, Judai prepared a mental list of things to do when he arrived home. First was to update O'Brian on the perpetrators. They had more than enough information on them now. O'Brian would take over the case and make sure those guys were put away and possibly receive any therapy they might need, which Judai suspected those two would. Judai understood being locked up for their crimes might be rough for them, but they had made their decisions themselves, no matter the reasons.

Asuka was just getting out of her car when Judai approached the complex sometime later. "Asuka," he got her attention so they could go upstairs together.

"She must have been tired," Asuka observed the now sleeping child on his back.

"It was a long day," he grinned sheepishly.

"What happened?" She saw right through him.

"Eh, well the search was going normal for a while and then when Hane Kuriboh took us to Kaiba Land, we ran into those guys from last night, they pulled a dirty trick, so I sent one of them to the floor, and then we all had to wait with security until I was released when the security camera footage was checked."

Asuka rested her forehead in his hand, "Judai…"

"Are you mad?"

"I should have known something like this would happen, it always does," she sighed exasperated and continued on her way.

He was relieved he wasn't in trouble. As long as he wasn't banished to the couch tonight, he was prepared to accept any scolding she had for him. "Hey, I don't typically use physical violence, but I had to stop him…"

"I know, I know," she laughed softly. "I meant that I knew you would find trouble, or that it would find you," she winked. Judai grinned at that.

"You knew what you were getting yourself into when you married me," he teased as she opened the door.

"Oh believe me, I was prepared for a lot worse…" she smiled. "But I promised to support you..." she added with a forced but only slight exasperated expression, which she couldn't hold and went back to smiling.

"We're in this together, no matter what crazy mess I bring home, right?" They both laughed as Judai sat down on the couch to put the girl down. She had fallen asleep already, and simply leaned over to lie down comfortably to continue sleeping. He got back up and stretched his back and arms while Asuka checked her phone messages.

"Oh?" she said aloud.

"What is it?" Judai inquired.

"Someone came forward to claim her," she said. "I wasn't given specifics, but since a family member might have identified her, they still need to get into contact with her parents to confirm it before she's sent home with anyone, which if everything goes smoothly and there are not any problems, they are hoping for tomorrow morning."

"So that's it then?" Judai tilted his head.

"We will see for sure tomorrow."

Judai agreed. Then even though he was ready to head to bed from being so tired already, he made his phone calls and then helped get dinner started. This could be the last night the mysterious child would take refuge in their home, so they decided they would make it a good last night. Given the circumstances of her visit, they agreed they should do what they could to make her stay pleasant.

The mute girl woke up and turned on the TV. The channel was still set to cartoons from the previous night. Judai made fried rice while Asuka prepared the main dish.

After dinner, they played until they got tired again. Asuka put the girl to bed in the guest room, hopefully for the last time and then got ready to join Judai in their own bed. He had let out a big yawn as he hugged her pillow when she was about to get under the covers.

"Judai, I need that…" she said with her hand on her hip.

"But I'm so comfy," he smiled with his eyes closed.

"Judai…" she warned.

He let go of her pillow and she put it back in its place and propped it up so she could sit with her e-reader for a sort while. She had turned her lamp to the lower of two settings and began to read while Judai moved to rest on his back.

Judai saw his phone flash so he reached over to pick it up to see what was going on. He received a picture message from Manjome, so he opened it. "Looks like Thunder's kid was finally born," Judai smiled as he lifted the phone to show Asuka.

"Aww," she smiled as she looked at the picture with the caption simply stating it was a boy. They knew the message was sent to just about everyone. "I'm happy for them," she said.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"She was coming up on two weeks late, so I heard he's been a nervous mess about the whole thing for over a month as the due date came up and more so when it passed," Asuka said.

Judai chuckled as he replied with his and Asuka's congratulations message. Then he put his phone face down on the end table so it wouldn't flash at him while he was trying to sleep. When he closed his eyes again, he started thinking. It was about something he found himself thinking about a lot lately, and it wasn't just because of Yubel's reminders.

"Hey, Asuka?" he started with his eyes still closed.

"Hm?" she didn't look up from her book.

"Do you think…" he trailed off.

"Do I think about what?" she asked while taking a glance at him.

He opened his eyes to look at the dark ceiling, "…Well lately I've been thinking about it and was wondering… do you think we're… I mean, when do you think it'll be time to…" he trailed off and rolled to his side away from her. "Never mind, I'm too tired to think."

"Oh… okay?" Asuka looked at him. She wondered what exactly he wanted to talk about. Time to do what? She suspected he wanted to ask about moving to a new home or having children of their own, but he could also be asking what she thought about his career and if they were happy in their current situation. Once things return to normal and the mute girl under their care was finally home, she would ask him directly about it. It was probably about time they had a good sit down to discuss their lives and plans for the future again.

Asuka looked over at him and noticed his breathing had already become slow and steady. She knew his sleep schedule was still a little messed up from his recent travels, but he was getting back to normal. It helped that he usually found falling asleep to be easy.

When Asuka awoke bright and early the next morning, she found herself alone in bed. She got up and slipped into her robe before venturing outside and quickly found her husband in the kitchen.

"Hey, you're up," he smiled. "I promised you an all-American breakfast, it'll be done soon, but the coffee is ready."

Asuka could smell it and was already gravitating towards it. "You're up early," she finally commented. He was already washed and dressed as well.

"O'Brian called me back, and I didn't want to wake you," he explained. "He was able to pull some string and those two guys are being separated for counseling. He said he'd like to talk them personally, so he'll be in the city next week."

"They got off easy," Asuka frowned.

Judai shrugged. "They are in a rough spot, they need help."

"That's true," she said and placed her half drank mug on the table. "Did you find out why they wanted her?"

"No, I didn't." Judai was sure it was something they could live without.

"I'm going to get ready," she told him as she headed back to their room.

When she emerged from the hallway again, she was cleaned and primped to be professional. Her makeup was light as always, her clothes were both stylish and conservative for the classroom, and her hair wrapped in a low bun and accessorized with a long clip.

Their young guest was just behind her, also ready the day. Asuka had even packed up her donated bag of small necessities so it would be ready to go. It was simply placed by the table where Judai had just finished preparing three places. Since she had no hand in preparing breakfast, then when they were done, Asuka was left with plenty of time before she would have to leave for work. Judai insisted on cleaning up by himself after. It was a simple task and there was not much left to clean up since he was also cleaning as he went during preparation. Asuka was able to read a magazine at the table while the girl looked at another.

'_Judai,'_ Yubel said to get his attention.

He was about to question his other half when someone came to the door.

"Who would be here so early?" Asuka frowned as she put her magazine down and got up to check the peephole of the door. "Oh!" she said and opened the door. "Good morning, Doctor Kouga," she greeting the man. "I hope you are feeling well."

"Good morning, and yes much better and I come with excellent news," he started.

"Would you like to come in?"

The Doctor agreed and they sat in the living room area. "Her parents are here in the city, they were able to provide proof, and better yet, the nanny was finally able to disclose what happened, and I must say, she really was under a tight contract of nondisclosure of anything relating to the child."

"Why is that?" Asuka asked. Judai was wondering the same thing. It was all so weird.

"Because I said so," a gruff voice piped in from the doorway, catching their attention. He didn't even notice when it had been opened again.

Judai couldn't believe his eyes at first and bolted upright to his feet. Asuka stood as well and stared with wide eyes. To think such a person would be involved.

"Dad!" the girl leaped up with joy and ran to the tall man right before a white-haired woman stepped beside him. "Mom!" The slender woman knelt down to hug her.

"It's… you?" Judai asked hesitantly as he met sharp blue eyes.

"You did not need to follow me here, Sir," Doctor Kouga started politely. "I was going return her to the station where she would be released back to you, it's the rules of…" he trailed off when the man raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to tell him he had to obey the rules.

The man otherwise ignored the counselor and looked directly to Judai, "I owe you a great deal for protecting my daughter, Judai Yuki," he said. "While I was in America, your name was mentioned more than once, and then my brother contacted me last night about all this. I will make sure you are compensated fairly for your deeds."

Judai was still wrapping his mind around why the Seto Kaiba was standing in his entryway. "Wait, wait, so she's _your_ daughter?"

"Judai, don't point, it's rude," Asuka whispered quickly and he dropped his hand.

"I didn't know there were any Kaiba children," Judai added.

"Good, act like you still don't," Seto Kaiba ordered.

"Seto…" The woman next to him sighed. When she looked at Judai, he noticed her stunningly blue eyes and knew it was no wonder the girl has such blue eyes, getting it from both parents. "We have kept her existence hidden from the public, we knew something would happen where her life could be in danger if she was ever kidnapped and held for ransom, so I am relieved there is someone like you we could depend on, I know this is not the first time you have done us a great deed," she smiled. "I cannot thank you enough, Judai Yuki."

He was surprised by her comment at first. "You're welcome," Judai bowed his head politely.

"_Do you feel the power of the spirits with them?_" Yubel inquired. Judai knew these spirits. He had encountered them before in a spirit realm many years ago and he would never forget the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Every spirit hunter in the world would love to get their hands on just one of them.

"Sierra, it's time to go," Seto Kaiba stated as he turned around and stepped back through the door.

The girl began to follow but suddenly stopped and quickly glanced at Judai and Asuka as if she was about to say something, but then looked to the blue-eyed woman.

"You have been a good girl haven't you? But they are hardly strangers," the woman laughed softly. "So you may talk to them."

The young girl ran back to Judai and Asuka to hug them both. "Thank you for having me!" she said, well-practiced and polite, but with a big smile.

"We will miss you," Asuka smiled while Judai ruffled her hair a little when he rubbed her head.

The girl ran back to her mother to take her hand. "Can I come back tomorrow?" she asked, making the woman laugh.

"We'll see," she said as she turned around.

"Don't forget your bag," Asuka said as she grabbed the backpack that was given to her by Doctor Kouga. The girl took it and put it on her back.

Hane Kuriboh fluttered around her head and she reached to pet the little spirit. "Hane Kuriboh will miss you too, so come back to see him again someday," he smiled as the little spirit returned to him.

"I cannot make any promises right now, but I can already tell I would like to visit with you again, when we can talk it more detail about this ability you seem to share," her mother said. "I am sorry I need to leave so quickly," she bowed. "Oh, please take this card so if there is anything I can help you with, it has the number to my personal phone," she said. Asuka accepted the card and gave her one of her own in return. "Thank you, you should expect a call from me soon, I would like to do something special for all of you who helped my daughter."

"That is very kind," Asuka bowed.

"Please have a good day," she beckoned politely before she was officially on her way out with her daughter.

"Huh, that was different," Judai said when he closed the door again.

Doctor Kouga was flustered and stunned. "I'm so sorry, I-I wasn't expecting them to even know where I was going, this-this isn't customary."

"It wasn't your fault, the Kaibas are known for being able to do whatever they want," Judai said.

"I have a lot of paperwork to about all this now, I just need you sign this document I brought here and you're officially no longer liable for the wellbeing of Sierra Kaiba."

"So that was her name…" Judai mused as he and Asuka signed the document.

"I'm glad she wasn't really mute," Asuka commented as the documents were packed up. "It would have been terrible if she was traumatized."

"I get the feeling this wasn't the first and won't be the last time she will be in trouble…" Judai thought aloud. "Not while she's vulnerable and they still possess the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards on top of being filthy rich and influential."

Asuka looked at him with worried eyes before she softened. "You want to help her?" He nodded. "That's my hero," she laughed and Judai rolled his eyes a little at that.

After Doctor Kouga left, the two sat back down at the table. Judai looked at his phone and saw that Asuka would leave for work in about ten minutes, before checking his messages.

"Strange, just a few nights with her and as soon as she's gone, it already feels different in here," Asuka commented.

"It's quiet," Judai commented.

"She never spoke to us until now, Judai," Asuka laughed as she reminded him.

"You know what I mean," he said. "By the way, the other night, you said there was something you were going to tell me."

Asuka tried to remember. "Oh that's right, I was just going to tell you how it looked like she was going to talk a couple times when you were out, but she clamped her mouth shut again pretty quickly."

"Don't talk to strangers, right?"

"She must have taken that lesson very seriously since she wouldn't talk to _anyone_ until she was told it was okay."

"She'll learn, or be corrected," Judai said surely. Then Judai remembered something. "I think… she did speak to me once actually."

"Huh? When?" Asuka tilted her head to the side curiously.

"That first morning she was here, I think she said my name right before I woke up," he said and then nodded. "I'm sure of it now."

Asuka couldn't help but smile. "Little rule breaking maybe?" she laughed.

Judai gave a short laugh and then sighed. His eyes wandered over to the empty chairs around the table. Before he knew it, they were silent again. She was looking at the empty chair too. The magazines in front of them were forgotten. Without needing to discuss it, he could somehow sense they were thinking about the same thing. Maybe Yubel was right, maybe it was time for their little family to grow. His thoughts wandered back to something he wanted to talk to her about.

"Asuka, do you think we would make good parents?" he asked.

"Why do you ask so suddenly?"

"I have been thinking about it lately–since our friends are having children, we have had two under our care now, and it's something we had discussed before, so it's been on my mind… would we–I even be a good parent?"

Asuka placed her elbow on the table and supported her face on her hand. "You have grown up a lot, Judai, I think your wisdom and experience would take you far as a parent."

He blushed a little at that. She just made him sound a lot cooler than he thought he was. However, he could feel Yubel smiling proudly.

"So…" he wasn't sure how to bring up this part. "What are your thoughts on it?"

"On starting our family?" she asked and he nodded in confirmation. "I am not sure we are ready yet," she said carefully.

Judai leaned back in his seat and looked at the ceiling. "I think… I'm ready when you are," he said quietly.

Asuka was surprised. Yubel was nearly floored.

"_J-Judai? Are you sure?_" Yubel asked.

"I mean… you're right Asuka, my experience does carry me, so I'm calm in a lot of intense situations, and I have already learned a lot from my our friends and our other experiences, I feel like this one has taught me a lot too," he tried to explain himself. "I know a baby is a twenty-four hour gig, I can't just pass one off to their parents when I'm done playing, and even though I can't say I am one-hundred percent ready right now, I think that in a year, by the time any children would be in our lives if we started very soon, that I would be more ready by then, does that make sense?"

Asuka closed her eyes, sorting through his words and her own thoughts. "I think you are right Judai," she said as she placed her hand on his. "I will make an appointment with my doctor tomorrow, and we will start getting ready for the next stage of our life together."

Judai already felt butterflies in his stomach. "I'm nervous, but this is kind of exciting!" he grinned and jumped up in his seat.

"Just one thing," Asuka smiled as she stood as well and picked up her bag so she could leave for work shortly. "I would appreciate it if we kept this decision to ourselves for a while, if my brother or even just my friends catch wind of this, I will get bothered every other day by someone asking if I'm pregnant yet from everyone I know, and I really don't want that kind of stress."

Judai nodded seriously, as if he just accepted an important mission. "I understand," he said. He could just imagine their phones ringing all the time as the news spread like wildfire. It was something he also dreaded.

Asuka sighed and shook out her hands. "Well a big decision was just made, I can feel the butterflies already," she admitted.

Judai laughed as he followed her to the door. "Me too!"

They shared their normal sweet goodbyes before he finally closed the door and got going on his own work. It was difficult since his thoughts were distracting him. There was another thing distracting him too.

"Yubel, what are you doing? Are you dancing?" Judai questioned.

"_Little Judais…"_ Yubel hummed happily as she swayed about the room in her spirit form. "_I can't wait…_"

Judai sweat a little. At least Yubel was on board with all this and not nervous at all. Judai knew that would help him a lot in the long run. All of that was a ways off though. However he didn't want to burst Yubel's bubble and happy atmosphere. For now, he would continue his work and making sure he informed his colleague of the final outcome of the case of the mysterious blue-eyed child… after doing some online shopping for parental preparation books.

**End.**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>

Thanks for reading.

**Fun facts: **

1. Sometimes you just want a later in life story. The idea for this story was written about two years ago one very late night. It was originally planned to only be about 3-4 chapters long. I can't seem to keep things as short as I originally plan in my first draft outlines.

2. Look very closely at the cover image for this story. There was a hint there all along.

3. I considered having Asuka reveal being pregnant at the end, like she found out while Judai was in Scandinavia and waited to tell him in person, but then needed to wait for the right time when these events were concluded. I thought this was too cliché and omitted it.

4. I'm not much into shipping in GX, but I thought it would be interesting to see how Judai and Asuka would be like already married and how Yubel fits into it. Viewing them as mature stable adults was interesting too. It always helps to have another canon character to interact with too. This was my first "yearnshipping" fic, and I've decided I kind of like it, so it may show up again in later fics.


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